Next to Me
by cloudsongs
Summary: The life and friendship of Daphne Vasquez and Emmett Bledsoe from the very beginning. No "switched at birth" plot.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Daphne Vasquez stepped back, wide-eyed and surprised when the young boy with fiery red hair stood next to her, back straight as a ruler, mouth open as wide as it could stretch. The way he moved, she could tell he was screaming -the way the other third-grade girls were staring back, then turning to run the opposite direction told her he _must_ have been screaming. He stepped forward as if to chase after the girls but stopped a few feet away instead raising his fist in the air in a way that reminded Daphne of movie scenes where the character would yell, "AND STAY OUT!"

After a good minute of watching the girls run away, the boy turned to face Daphne. He had the biggest grin on his face. He lifted one hand to his chest and then tapped his two fingers and quickly moved his right fingers and mouthed some words. Daphne watched him, mesmerized by the quick motions of his hand. She knew from that moment, everything would change.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Mr. Bailey had it out for Daphne Vasquez. There was no doubt about it. Ever since she'd unwisely smarted him in class about a point he'd mentioned about Neanderthals and Emmet Bledsoe chose that exact moment to claim that Mr. Bailey shouldn't have made a mistake about something he clearly was. It wasn't Daphne's fault. All she'd done was try to insure her classmates were getting correct information and all Emmett had wanted…well he'd just seen it as another chance to get on a teacher's nerves which would, in turn, get on Cameron's nerves. It was a harmless form of revenge and Daphne definitely didn't deserve the severe punishment that came with it.

Daphne had actually been really excited about the project; they had to construct a model to submit to the annual Carlton science fair and Daphne wanted to make an exact replica of a chosen dinosaur using the credited research she was already mulling over possible sources for. She had been so excited she'd volunteered to be the one student to do the project on her own. However, still upset over her outburst, weeks ago she might add, Mr. Bailey had other plans.

"And Mr. Bledsoe," Mr. Bailey signed, "since you have found it necessary to become Ms. Vasquez's backbone, you can be her partner for this assignment." She turned around knowing full well that the angry vibration of a stomp she felt came from the seat closest to the front of the room.

And if her mother hadn't scolded her before for combative behavior, Daphne would've thrown a tantrum. She would've stood up and demanded a reassignment and, had she known those words she'd heard the older kids spew, she would've cursed the man in the tacky, bland suit at the front of the room, enjoying her discomfort.

But instead, Daphne rolled her eyes, cursed her luck and refused to look at the back of the room. Emmett shrugged his shoulders and continued drawing a rather rude picture of Mr. Bailey kissing Principal Rose's ass. He didn't care who his partner was; it wasn't like he'd have to do anything. Every time someone got paired up with him, they assumed he would be a liability or a mooch. They figured it would be less of a hassle to just sign his name than piss him off.

Despite this known fact, Daphne Vasquez stopped at Emmett's desk when class ended and dropped a folded piece of notebook paper on top of his artwork with a heartfelt sigh. Knowing it would make him sweat, Emmett didn't open it until Daphne left the room. In the little note, in painstakingly neat handwriting was Daphne's home address and phone number.

Emmett lifted his head in confusion, scanning the empty room for some sign that this was a joke. But he'd watched that Vasquez kid and she wouldn't know a prank unless someone provided a Webster definition and drew a diagram. He packed his thin bag and left the room, a little ashamed to have written off the one person that hadn't done the same to him.

After a week of no contact with Daphne, Emmett was sitting at home, eating Sugar Crisps and watching cartoons on the living room couch when Cameron and his mom started shouting. Well, signing very furiously. Emmett probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't looked over the top of the couch to see if the microwave had beeped to indicate his hot cocoa was ready. He sighed and kicked at the pillow in vain, succeeding only in knocking it off the sofa and onto the floor. He'd just mustered enough annoyance to get off the couch and retrieve it when his mother shuffled in and eyed him curiously.

"Honey, don't you have something you could be doing? Homework, maybe?" she asked, obviously a little frazzled. This was the part he hated most about when his parents fought. They treated him like he was some stupid kid, like he somehow hadn't seen, or understood what they said. Cameron expected him ignore the obvious.

And he loved his mom, sometimes, he thought, more than Cameron. It hurt to lie. "Uh…yeah. I'm supposed to be doing some project with some kid on East Riverside."

His mother grimaced and quickly signed, "Terrible place." She smiled sadly at him and grabbed her large, ugly, brown purse and her sun hat. "It's not too far and it's a nice day. I'll walk you." It really wasn't; Emmett was sure it would be _at least_ a two mile walk just to get to East Riverside and then who knows how much longer to get to Daphne's house. Then she practically threw them both out of the house into the noisy, crowded streets.

They walked side-by-side and Emmett guessed his mother believed ignorance made him an invalid because she tucked his shirt in for him and licked his hair back like a toddler. As she walked, she signed: about anything really. She talked about Cameron's job at the office, about her work as the counselor, about his grandmother and her illness, about his chores, his homework, and his future. She did all this without looking at him once to see if he had anything to reply with. When he finally reached Daphne's home, a small haven compared to the grungy environment they had walked through for the past half mile, his mind was reeling. Melody kissed his forehead and took squeezed his hands. She then hugged herself tightly. "I love you, Emmet." She smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

He ran down the small porch and knocked on Vasquez's door and by the time Mrs. Vasquez answered the door and his mother was down the street, he realized with jarring clarity what she'd told him. Cameron would be staying with his sister for a while. She was telling him he'd be leaving for a while but deep down, in a pit of his heart, it felt like he wasn't coming back.

Mrs. Vasquez seemed like a kind enough woman, but Emmett wasn't in the mood for kind. For once, he found himself speechless. But he wasn't a baby; he was a man now. He was twelve for Christ's sake; he wasn't going to run to a corner and cry. Especially not in front of Daphne's mom, and especially not in front of Daphne.

"So, you're Emmett Bledsoe?" Mrs. Vasquez signed and spoke out loud. Emmett wanted to roll his eyes. _So, she's hearing._ "Do you remember me? You saved my little Daphne from those bullies when she went to that hearing school. You're the reason Daphne and I started learning sign and getting her started at Carlton."

Emmett awkwardly looked around the foyer, right next to the small space for dining, never having great experiences with adults. He _did_ remember. Daphne had been standing there with her book bag on the sidewalk staring head on to the group of girls who were laughing at her and taunting her. He hadn't even thought twice before he ran towards the girls and screamed with as much force as his little eight-year-old body could muster. It was the first time he could remember purposely making a sound. The world was still silent, but he knew something was happening -his throat hurt, and the girls looked like they were screaming too as they ran away. He had tried making a sound towards Daphne, but she immediately touched her ears and shook her head. Emmett, not knowing what else to do, grabbed her hand and her backpack and walked all the way to his home. The rest seemed vague and fuzzy in his head. He remembered his mother had asked him to be friends with Daphne and help her at school but for some reason the bright, wide eyes and the happy go lucky grin of the strawberry blonde girl rubbed him the wrong way. They'd been going to the same school for almost four years now and he still couldn't say that he knew much about her. "I don't remember."

Mrs. Vasquez smiled still and gently maneuvered Emmett into the kitchen where he was hit with the mouthwatering smell of fresh brownies. He must've been staring at the godsends on the table because she chuckled and fetched a plate from a cabinet and placed it next to the pan. "Take two. They're Daphne's favorite. She's been such a mood lately. I've been getting carpal tunnel trying to keep up with her."

Emmett grinned and took a large bit out of one perfectly proportioned dessert, relishing in the dark-chocolatey goodness. He wasn't particularly fond of dark chocolate but it had been so long since his mom baked anything that he overlooked the whole thing. "These are delicious," he signed with chocolate covered fingers.

Mrs. Vasquez returned his smile and didn't mention anything about his dirty fingers. She went to the short hallway and entered the room all the way in the back. From where Emmett stood, he could see Mrs. Vasquez sign, "Sweetheart, your science partner is here and you've been cooped up in your room for the past three days! The fresh air will do you good." When she returned, Emmett was on his second brownie and contemplating whether or not he could get away with a third. She frowned a little at the self-conscious look on his face and shook her head. "Go for it, take as many as you like. Daphne's been eating too much of it anyway. Wouldn't be good for her health."

Emmett hungrily reached for another brownie after another moment of hesitation. It wasn't like he'd never had freshly baked brownies before, it'd just been a while. Apparently, it had been longer than he realized because he'd polished off five more before Daphne came down the hall with green paint plastered to her pale forehead and cheek. Given everything her mother slipped, Emmett could've easily come up with something vicious to say to Daphne to embarrass her, make her cry; she'd certainly been given the ammunition. For one, he could start off with the fact that Daphne and Mrs. Vasquez did not resemble each other one bit. Or the fact that she had a hearing mother. But he didn't want to go home right now. Not when he had brownies and a calm conversation he didn't necessarily have to respond to.

"So…" Daphne sighed, shifting her small weight from foot to foot, a critical look on her face. Emmet found himself wondering whether the kid ever smiled, outside of getting a teacher's praise. "Are we going to work on _our_ project, or what?"

"Daphne," her mother admonished. "Change your tone."

Light brows furrowed, Daphne tried again. "Are you ready to work?"

Mrs. Vasquez stepped forward and examined her face, tilting it erratically from the left to the right, upward and downward. "Go wash your face first then you can work." She marched her in the direction she'd come from before returning.

Mrs. Vasquez smiled at him again, wiping her hands on her apron. Opening the fridge, she began to pour him a glass of cold milk, his favorite, but his mom didn't even have the time to know that. She placed it next to him on the table and fetched a brownie for herself. "So, Emmett, I hear you're quite the trouble maker…. You seem alright to me." She winked at him, taking a bite.

And with that, Emmett decided he liked it here.

* * *

Daphne wasn't pleased with the way the paint on his dinosaur looked too much like plastic and not scales. She had spent so long mixing colors to see if she could find the perfect shade of green but to no avail. And she certainly wasn't pleased with the way Emmett Bledsoe came strolling into her room with chocolate covered fingers, dirt-tracking sneakers, and a self-satisfied smirk on his face. She'd been working furiously on this project for the last four days, alone she might add, and Emmett hadn't done anything to help. Granted, she should've expected it; she'd heard from everyone else Emmett had been partnered with that he preferred to be a silent bystander. Yet he was still one of the most popular kids in school. What injustice.

But then again, Emmett had never come to their houses. Before she could feel accomplished in this feat, she reasoned Emmett had probably just been bored at home doing whatever kids like him did by themselves. Like smoking or sneaking into arcades and all those other things her mother would give her hell for.

So, she put Emmett to work. Put him in charge of mixing the material for the paper mache while she cut strips of old newspapers she collected (stole) from the neighbors. They worked in silence (mostly), Daphne focused on her project and Emmett, grateful for a task to keep his mind off his mother's departure. Before they realized, three hours had passed, and Mrs. Vasquez was asking Emmett if he planned on staying for dinner or if his parents were expecting him. Knowing Cameron, he probably hadn't realized Emmett had left. That or he thought he was out with his mother who'd bring him back for dinner, that the three of them would sit down until Cameron would inevitably be called in to work. But he figured that would even be a possibility anymore if he was leaving.

But Emmett didn't mention any of this, choosing instead to lie. "Yeah, my mom's expecting me." He turned to face Daphne, his eyes lowering with every sign. "I'll see you later –"

"Tomorrow, you mean?" Daphne asked just defiant and forceful enough that her mother wouldn't scold.

He looked up and their eyes met for the first time since that day four years ago, curiosity present in her gaze. Daphne's eyes looked nothing like her mother's but were a lot like them. They reflected kindness and honestly, not that he'd ever tell her, a gentle soul. But, the most astonishing of all, they looked expectant and challenging. He felt as if, for once, someone expected him to finish something he started; not because he was supposed to or because his parents were making him…but because this kid, the overly tense, incredibly tiny Daphne Vasquez, needed his help and was depending on him for assistance. And whether he liked it or not, he was not getting out of this partnership.

The sheer challenge made Emmett question whether he even wanted to try.

And what the hell, he'd been less alone in Daphne's still presence than the cacophony of flailing arms at his house. "Yeah, Daphne," he swirled his finger as if to make a tornado, something fitting from the look in her eye, "I'll be here tomorrow." He started towards the door before throwing over his shoulder, "for the brownies."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Two weeks of working together with Emmett Bledsoe and Daphne was ready to strangle him. She'd begun planning the crime and just what she would say on the court stand. She's assure the jury it wasn't just one of Emmett's annoying little traits, it was _all_ of them. Sure, they'd begun their partnership in a somewhat efficient stillness. Daphne would assign their tasks; Emmett would nod and roll his eyes before setting to work. They'd worked this way for a few days and Daphne had begun wondering if her classmates had been completely wrong about Emmett.

Emmett hadn't outwardly complained about having to work, he hadn't slacked off at all, he even chose to work when Daphne had taken breaks to eat, do chores, and dribble the basketball outside. He arrived at her house when he said he would, sometimes even an hour early. Silvia Salander, one of the only girls that she regularly talked to, tried to credit Emmett's mom, a counselor of the school, for his promptness but Daphne shut her down, having noticed since that first day, Emmett always walked to her house with same pair of shoes and a thin, holey jacket despite the chilly weather. Even on the day it poured buckets and her mother worried aloud that 'that Bledsoe boy' would catch pneumonia in 'this hurricane rain'.

But that period had been too good to be true. Eventually, Emmett made it clear that his docile, compliant, even pleasant behavior was all an act. A temporary state before he unleashed his true, annoying tendencies that Daphne swore came straight from Satan himself to ruin any chance she had at finishing her three-week sentence with any semblance of sanity.

It wasn't that Emmett was constantly around to show her up in praising her mother's good cooking, or the way he managed to get tasks that took Daphne two hours done in less than thirty minutes, or the way he knew how to create artistically impressive decals for the dinosaur's features that blew Daphne's mind with viciously jaded spikes of envy. It wasn't the way he "babbled" incessantly about the latest films he'd watched or the way he went through her music and pretended to drum along to whatever beat he could feel through the headphones. It wasn't even the immense irritation Daphne felt after Emmett used both fingers to sign her name making it seem like he was saying "tornado" instead of "Daphne."

If Daphne had to guess what the most annoying part of being Emmett Bledsoe's partner was, he'd guess it was the fact that she was starting to get used to it.

After the rain that day, her mother has begun to insist Daphne brought Emmett home with her after school. She refused furiously and adamantly until her mother attacked her one weakness, claiming that she'd take away her basketball and music until she was willing to be kinder. After that, she begrudgingly approached Emmett and withstood the confused stares his friends gave her. She'd taken a huge gulp of air and pawned the blame on her mother and Emmett's lost puppy features. "My mom thinks you should walk home with me," she began, shifting from foot to foot and waiting for Emmett to say something. Emmett's friends were grinning broadly which burned her cheeks. "So, I'll wait for you on the front steps after school." When Emmett didn't respond, she rolled her eyes and regretted every agreeing to ask. It was a few moments before Emmett looked her in the eye, a strange look on his face. "Okay?"

Emmett had nodded, and his eyes lowered to a frayed edge of his shirt sleeve. "Yeah, okay. I'll have to ask my dad," he started to tell Daphne but she was already halfway back to her usual table with Silvia Salander.

That day, at the risk of appearing too eager, Emmett forced himself to walk the straight edges of the tiled floor to the front door, taking an extra twenty minutes after school. It had the unfortunate side effect of pissing Daphne off but succeeded in maintaining his role as an unwilling participant in Daphne's grade. And when their public bus finally stopped near the neat one-story home, Emmett was willing to bet Daphne was already over it because she didn't even scowl when Emmett got the first cookie of the batch. She did laugh when Emmett burned his tongue, but so did he.

At the two-week mark, Emmett had been increasingly annoying. Daphne figured something must've changed because Emmett babbled even more than usual. They'd developed a routine of eating Mrs. Vasquez's (and sometimes Adrianna's) delicious snacks, hurrying down the hallway to work on their project; Emmett had named it The Tornado after 'Daphne's evil alter ego', where they would stay for four hours and Daphne consider dropping out before she lost her mind. Now, Emmett had taken to sitting on the small kitchen stool and helping Mrs. Vasquez with whatever she happened to be making. Daphne didn't want to admit to watching the two sign but she knew she worked twice as fast with Emmett's infuriating assistance than without it, so she'd sit by the edge of the hallway and watch in on their conversations.

Sometimes, Emmett would ask how Mrs. Vasquez was doing, where Mr. Vasquez was since he'd never seen him till now, and Mrs. Vasquez would admit that Mr. Vasquez has been gone for a long time. Emmett would not ask again, not knowing completely sure what it mean, but knowing it made Mrs. Vasquez upset. Daphne later told him that her father was obviously a deadbeat who ran off when he found out she became deaf. But mostly, he would talk about his mom and something she'd done this week, or years ago. Daphne's mother always looked pleased and welcomed Emmett's company, encouraging him to go on when he spoke about his mother and father, teaching him baking tips and distracting him with tasks when his signing got weaker. Afterwards, she'd thank him for his help to an extent that made Daphne feel guilty and a bit jealous. She was _her_ mother and Emmett was showing her up, again.

Once, Daphne had felt so bothered, she asked her mother why Emmett couldn't just go home and speak to his own mother. To her surprise, she eyed with reproach before explaining, "Daphne, have you considered the possibility that he can't?" Her mother mumbled something without signing it and Daphne barely caught the words "even though his mother's a shrink."

That confused her and sent a strange daunting feeling through the pit of her stomach. After all, she'd always been able to tell her mom everything. Even the stuff about people picking on her messing up her signs. "What do you mean, he can't?"

At this, the frown on her mother's face was replaced with a soft smile as she pulled her into a hug complicated by the inches she'd never grown. "Sweet-child, not everyone's mama is like yours. Keep that in mind." She pushed her towards their dining table to set it for dinner. "And kicking his ass," she said, surprising Daphne with her words, "Be glad I've got someone to cook with, that's more time you have to yourself." Daphne grinned.

That night, after dinner, her mother told Daphne to invite Emmett and his family to dinner the next night and she didn't even question it.

* * *

Emmett failed to mention the dinner invitation to his mom until he was sure he had work aligned or a "prior engagement" like he usually does. He knew his intentions were obvious, but his mother didn't look the least bit upset. If anything, she looked regretful. Like she'd noticed the amount of time Emmett was spending with the Vasquez's rather than at home, in their large, empty house, she didn't mention it. His father had been back for a few days earlier in the week. He wanted it to seem like he'd spent the night but after he'd left, Emmett had taken to sleeping less at night and more at school. He'd been wide-awake on his couch in the front room when he'd sneaked out of the house.

He wished he could feel hurt or even angry that they were lying to him, but he was too excited she'd been home period to feel anything other than that joy of feeling accomplished. Like he finally had something Daphne had; he could have some part of normal and he could prove it. After spending so much time with _Tornado_ –he had to remember to keep calling her that as the glare on Daphne's face had become a delight in his day –family and seeing what he could have. What he was supposed to have. And he couldn't keep stealing Daphne's mom from her, even if Daphne didn't seem to appreciate what she had.

He walked home with Daphne that afternoon in cargo pants and collared shirt, a couple buttons improperly clipped nonetheless, but still a nice shirt. Daphne was quieter than usual, her step a few strides behind Emmett's and Emmett felt a small sliver of embarrassment. Maybe the dinner had just been Regina (as Mrs. Vasquez begged him to call her) idea and he wasn't actually wanted. He'd thought maybe Daphne and he had been on the track to becoming friends, despite all the jokes jabbed at Daphne…or at least acquaintances, or maybe people that could stand being in a room for longer than an hour without throwing things at each others' heads. Sure, he acknowledged that he could be a handful, not the easiest person to know. He had farfetched and far-flung ideas that got him, and often-unwilling participants, in trouble along with him when he put them in action. But he hadn't even been around Daphne long enough to get her into trouble. He hadn't tainted her yet. Regina could testify to that. And if his mother were still around ( _she's coming back_ , he reminded himself), she'd testify to it too. And if wasn't like Daphne didn't already get herself into enough trouble. Just the other day, some of Emmett's friends were poking fun at Chubby Susie while she wailed out loud in school yard and Daphne barreled down the path and butted straight into Johnny Wilkins and flailed her arms around to hit as many boys as she possibly could for making Susie cry. In the end, Emmett ended up dragging Daphne home, not bothered in the slightest when Daphne staggered into him when they reached the halfway mark.

Deciding to just get it over with, Emmett walked a few steps to close to the girl lost in her thoughts, playfully knocking into her. "What's up, Daphne (Tornado)? Worried about _the Tornado_ being on his own for too long? We've raised him well and I'm sure he won't fall into a bad crowd."

He was shocked when that got a small smile out of the usually tense kid. "No, I'm sure he's fine. I'm still not sure why he's a he." She tilted her head and pursed her lips before giving way to her curiosity. "I wanted to ask you something."

Emmett grinned and bumped Daphne to the side with his hip again. Daphne stumbled a little. "Yes, Daphne, I am an alien, and yes, I have come to Earth to crawl inside of you and take your role as a boring, straight-A student with no social life. I've been observing for quite some time and now I think I'll be good enough that no one will suspect a thing."

That one earned an actual, nervous, laugh; Daphne's eyes bright and yet, still uneasily curious. "I knew it. Wait till I tell everyone I was right."

Emmett nodded thoughtfully, knowing Daphne was trying to find a polite time to ask what must be either an uncomfortable or unpleasant request of him. Maybe she was going to use this dinner as a nice way of saying, "Hey, Emmett, it's been great but once this project is over, I'll be glad to never see you again" or "Is it okay to pretend you don't exist after next Thursday?" Either way, Daphne was trying to be kind about it and of course she was; she was a Vasquez. They were so painfully kind even in the face of someone like Emmett Bledsoe, son of Cameron Bledsoe who sometimes ignored tact in favor of faster results.

"What's up, Daphne?" Emmett crossed his arms and lowered his gaze.

It was a moment before she replied and they'd reached the quaint white home and its pebbly walkway when, instead of entering the front door, Daphne chose to instead plop down on the front step. When Daphne did nothing more than a meek glance in his direction, Emmett sighed. Daphne glanced up with a nervous quirk of an eyebrow when Emmett stood before her, leaning against the railing. "Why don't you ever talk to me about stuff?"

Which threw Emmett for a pleasantly unexpected loop. "What?"

Daphne squinted up at him and clarified. "You spend a lot of time talking to my mom, like an hour a day but when we go to my room, you never talk about anything."

"I talk a lot," he objected, shrugging.

Daphne grinned. "Yeah, you do. But it's never _about_ anything. I asked my mom once and she said it's because you don't have people to talk to." At that, Emmett looked stricken and embarassed, so Daphne hurriedly went on. "And so, I thought, you could talk to me, but you never do. Well, I mean you do, but it's never about anything."

Emmett was silent, for once. His head lowered and with barely stifled growl he started off towards the end of the street without a word.

Emmett didn't come over the next few days. When Daphne stood outside the first day, she waited forty-five minutes before Silvia Salander told her Emmett had skipped the last period and took the bus home. Daphne almost marched back into the school to tell on him to his mom but thought twice of it. She waited the next day for thirty minutes before one of Emmett's friends told her Emmett had told him to tell her he wasn't feeling too well and had to go home right after school. She didn't wait at all the next day. She'd later rationalize that she was just angry at Emmett for abandoning their project, but they'd been pretty much finished anyway. And at that point, Emmett had earned his name on the project even more than Daphne had, in big letters if she was honest.

If she was truly being honest, she was angry with herself. What had she been thinking? Asking Emmett to talk to her, and about his feelings nonetheless? Emmett didn't need a shoulder to cry deeply into, and even if he did, what made Daphne think he'd want it to be her shoulder? But even that thought irritated her; Emmett was willing to spend hours talking to Daphne's mother, _her_ mother about actual things and then reserved everything _stupid_ and _trivial_ , as Mr. Bailey said, for Daphne.

And maybe that was what really irked her. Listening in on the converations Emmett had in her kitchen while her mother cooked delicious dinners, Daphne knew Emmett had a lot to say. He spoke about the way he hated his father for working so much and being gone all the time, but the revere in his tone belied the respect Emmett had for his father and the support he had given his mother to be a counselor. The way he admired her mom's culinary wizardry belied his nostalgia for when his own family spent time together to make dinners. The way Emmett's voice would become wistful and small when he spoke about his father at all, belied that he hadn't been around lately.

Daphne was jealous, and the realization hit her like a train. She was jealous of her mother. After all, Daphne would spend three, sometimes four more hours alone with Emmett a day than her but her mom got to know Emmett better than she ever would. How pathetic did that make her?

Apparently pathetic enough to lie to Mrs. Collingsworth about having a bad headache days later and skip the rest of her class. She'd heard from a reliable source, Mrs. Jensen in the front office, Emmett had physical education as his last class. She stealthily romanced the empty halls until she saw the familiar firey hair that only belonged to Emmett down the hall. She pressed her body as hard as possible into the wall as Emmett rounded the corner. She waited until Emmett was sufficiently far enough down the hall to follow him. And as she left the school grounds, before the bell, her conscience kept pointing out; she realized she'd never found out where Emmett lived. She assumed it wasn't far because he walked to and from school all the time and took a local bus.

Daphne had just been contemplating how stupid her plan had been with her lungs already burning when, fifteen minutes into it, Emmett rounded a street corner and promptly disappeared. She spun around abruptly and searched the street for any sign of the bright red hair or black backpack when a sharp weight shoved her roughly onto the sidewalk. Grass stains were the last of her problems as Emmett angrily glared down at her.

"Hey, Emmett. How are you?" she signed weakly.

Emmett's brow furrowed, and he reluctantly rolled off of the girl struggling for air. It had just been Daphne. She was harmless and looking at her now, slowly getting to her feet, he felt a little bad for overreacting. But then again, he should've known that nobody else owned a neon yellow backpack like she did. And he was a little surprised at the weightless feeling in the pit of his stomach stubbornly pulling a grin from the corners of his mouth.

"Stop following me." Starting down the sidewalk, he wasn't the least surprised to feel Daphne's hand slap onto his shoulder. He brushed her hand off but she continued to put it back until they were five minutes away from his house. "Go home, Daphne, your mom's going to be worried." He signed Daphne's name correctly and his single finger twirling in the air felt right.

Normally a mention of her mother's shaky nerves was enough to send Daphne on her way but this time, she stood her ground and she looked a bit ridiculous in mud-stained jeans and a filthy top. "No, I won't be ignored."

They stood a few feet apart, arms crossed, and eyes locked in a test of wills until a minute twitch of Daphne's brow and a tiny quirk in Emmett's lip led to a breakdown in unrestrained laughter. Emmett threw his head back and a woman walking past them with her purse clutched to her chest stopped to stare at the two kids soundlessly laughing. When they finally regained control, they sat together in front of Emmett's house.

They were still for a while before Emmett signed, "I'm really sorry I left that day. Was Regina mad?"

Daphne shook her head and scratched at the stubborn stain on her knee. "No, not at you anyway." She leaned her weight into Emmett's shoulder, barely nudging the older boy. "I suspect your alien powers have made her like you more than me."

Emmett grinned and peaked at Daphne from underneath his eyelashes. "Yes! My plan is working." He waited a moment before pulling his knees up to his chest and dropping his chin on top of them. "Why would you follow me anyway?"

And Daphne wanted to say that she missed Emmett, that she was angry at herself for being such a needy crybaby, that she felt like Emmett was the first real friend she'd had, and she wasn't even sure that Emmett had been aware. Instead, she tried for a big smile. "It's too much work without you. The Tornado needs two parents."

Emmett lowered his eyes to his feet, his lashes fluttering for a moment before he nodded somberly, sniffing quietly. And Daphne bit her lip at the sudden sight of tears trailing down Emmett's face. It was strange, but other than children, Daphne had never seen anyone cry; let alone Emmett, the strongest person she knew next to her mother. He seemed so small, so unlike the boy that had tackled her to the ground moments ago.

Emmett wiped angrily at his face before staring up to study the laces of his shoes. "Okay." He shook his head and wiped at his face again in determination before standing up, growing taller as he did, indestructible. "If the Tornado needs two parents, he's got them." He extended a hand to Daphne and pulled her up. "Is that dinner invitation still open?"

Daphne knew better than to say so without consulting her mother, but she figured she made enough for them to share with a third person anyway, and if she had to, she'd just eat less. "Of course, you have to meet the in-laws." She winked. Some part of her brain told her that statement sounded strange, but she ignored it.

As they took the bus to Daphne's house, she reasoned she could let Emmett call her the dame of their "parenthood," steal of her mother's time, and call her "tornado" all he wanted if it meant never having to see tears on Emmett's face again


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Daphne's first kiss wasn't at all what she thought it would be. She was the experimental one; 'the nerd' Emmett always called her in affectionate, teasing signs. Emmett never wanted to be a part of her tests unless there was the possibility something might blow up. And after that one experiment with pebbles and rubber bands that resulted in Daphne's first head injury, her first time being grounded, and many other firsts too painful to think about, she'd stopped letting Emmett's brand of science entice her.

So, when she spent the night at the Bledsoe's house for the fifteenth time in the gazillion times Emmett had stayed over at her house, watching Deafenstein for what must have been the hundredth time, Daphne was pretty thrown for a loop when Emmett suggest it. "You want to do what?" Her surprise had overtaken her that she spoke out loud -something she rarely did with him.

"I want to kiss you," he signed just as quickly as the first time and took a nervous sip from his soda.

Daphne was sure he was joking. He had to be. Daphne glanced around the room to make sure they were alone, and this wasn't some prank. Why would he want to kiss Daphne of all people? Emmett had loads of girls he knew from school and from other extracurriculars. Why didn't he want to kiss one of them? "Why?"

Emmett met her eyes with slight self-consciousness. "I never have before."

"Exactly, why start now?" Daphne wasn't quite sure why she was so terrified, but she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and she had a pretty clear idea why. She could blame it on nerves if the way her palms got sweaty every time Emmett smiled at her with that mischievous look in his eyes, she was nervous for a different reason entirely. "I know three people that would totally kiss you." Well four if she was honest but she was allowed to lie once in a blue moon.

"Can we just do it?" Emmett snapped, sitting up abruptly and knocking aside a pile of cards. "Think of it as…an experiment."

"To what purpose? What's the problem, the hypothesis?" she asked, getting on her knees, close enough to smell the sweet scent of Emmett's breath.

Emmett had to think about it before coming up with, "Well, I've never kissed you before, that's the problem. I think it would - _will_ be different from my mom's kisses."

It wasn't that logical, but then again Emmett's ideas rarely were. Daphne would later blame adrenaline for propelling forward, hands on Emmett's thin shoulders and planting a dry, chaste kiss to Emmett's cheek. She knew that wasn't the way the older kids did it. It wasn't even the way her friend Ty did it with his girlfriend. But it was enough to make her stomach do somersaults that left her feeling oddly energized and a little sick.

Emmett pulled back, cheeks flushed and a small frown on his face. "That wasn't a real kiss." Daphne lowered her head in embarrassment because she'd never kissed anyone other than her mother and grandmother.

"How would you know?" she shot back defensively.

"I just do," Emmett replied, pulling himself taller on his knees. Reaching timidly out for Daphne's face, his fingers tickled the skin behind her ears. Mimicking him, Daphne did the same, eyes scanning Emmett's face, unsure of the contemplative look on his face that she would later identify as longing. Close enough to ghost her lips with his whisper, he mouthed, "This is a real kiss."

Barely there at first, he pressed his parted mouth against Daphne's closed lips. Emmett paused, not daring to make a move until Daphne slowly let her mouth fall open. Hands moist and dragging along the white cotton of Daphne's shirt, Emmett pushed himself higher still, deepening the kiss with leverage. Turning his head the way he had done with other girls, he tried it from different angles finding the perfect one to earn a muffled gasp from Daphne. The first slide of Emmett's tongue was odd, Daphne thought. Not unpleasant, just different and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel. Coke tasted like an entire flavor, sickly sweet and just a bit dizzying. It left Daphne wondering how many flavors tasted differently on Emmett's sly tongue, if she'd ever get to find out.

They separated for air, panting slightly, eyes on the floor until Emmett risked a glance. Ignoring the pleasant tug in his stomach at the sight of Daphne's lips swollen and red, saying _I did that_. "Was that totally weird?"

Shaking her head adamantly, Daphne licked her lips, and Emmett's eyes widened. "No. Not really." Emmett nodded and lay down on the rug again, head swimming when Daphne followed suit. His skin tingled, hair rising in the space between them. He felt hyperaware, extremely sensitive to the fact that Daphne was lying beside him, not inches away but suddenly too far. Taking in a deep breath as Daphne exhaled, he tried to ignore the itching feeling but the blood was rushing through his body. He sat up on his elbows and looked down on Daphne whose strawberry blonde hair fanned around her head like a halo. He leaned in close, eying Daphne with curiosity and as usual, Daphne knew exactly what he meant.

"You want do it again, don't you?"

"Yeah." He breathed, tongue caught in his teeth. So they did.

It would be years before Emmett tells Daphne about Marie Climment cornering him after second period one day and shoving her tongue down his throat. Daphne, flabbergasted and red with embarrassment that Emmett brought it up, asked him why he'd wanted to do the experiment if he already had the 'conclusion'. Emmett was unable to come up with an excuse other than the simple fact that he just wanted to.

* * *

Their routine transitioned into high school and Emmett had become so used to the routine, so used to dinners with the Vasquez's every few days that the one day Daphne wasn't waiting for him after school, he'd been utterly distraught. He sank down onto the top step for what felt like hours before Silvia walked by and signed to him, "As the designated messenger girl for the two of you, it's my duty to tell you that Daphne went home after third period with a fever." Silvia signed "tornado" for Daphne's name. Part of him was proud that his nickname had finally caught on and the second part was strangely self-satisfied. Daphne unwittingly painted a picture of indestructability. She was never late, never without an answer or explanation, and although she was sick, she always made it to school and dominated the basketball court.

Emmett began the bus ride home, leaving school earlier than his mother as she had work to catch up with, with a self-satisfied grin on his face before he remembered that two weeks ago, he'd stayed home with the flu and in his annoyed boredom, he'd called Daphne and begged her to come over after school. He played on Daphne's weakness and claimed he needed to know what school work he missed, knowing full and well what it was, he'd be able to finish it the day it was due.

Daphne had completely let herself in quietly and appeared at his doorway with a stack of notebooks. Seeing Emmett in bed and underneath the covers, something she never saw, even when they had impromptu sleepovers, Daphne covered her mouth and the color of her shirt and signed anxiously, "Are you sick?"

Emmett had thrown his arms out exasperatedly and replied sarcastically, "No Daphne, I've just decided today would be a good day to freshen up my skills at blowing snot out of my nose, reaching high temperatures and talents for playing solitaire in under ten minutes. Of course I'm sick. Didn't you notice I wasn't at school today?"

"Of course, but I just figured you'd decided to skip." Daphne threw out and took a step further back. "We had a math test today."

"What? I can't see you!" Emmett said, a wicked smile on his face. "Daphne, let go of your shirt. Breathe in the evil, sickening germs of Feverland. Come on, get sick and stay home with me tomorrow. Mom will be gone and Regina will bring us soup and warm, comfy blankets."

Daphne rolled her eyes and ignored Emmett's enticements. She dropped her color of her shirt and stepped a few feet into his room. "We had a math test today."

"So, every other answer is C. That's how Ms. Reinheart operates." Emmett settled further into his pillows and crossed his arms behind his head. "Daphne, come, come sit with me."

Daphne glared defiantly and started to back out of the room. "And get pneumonia? I don't think so." His vision blurred as Daphne stepped further away and Emmett closed his eyes as he slipped away into total darkness. The absolute stillness in his house felt more overwhelming that before, just as it always did when Daphne left Emmett alone. But as he'd begun fully drifting away, the faint light from the kitchen reached his room and the smell of hot chicken noodle soup lulled him to sleep.

Now, two weeks later, Daphne, Ms. Never-Missed-a-Day-of-School-in-her-Life-even-when-she's-coughing-up-a-lung was home sick because of Emmett's selfishness. Oh yeah, he was rubbing off on Daphne, and it'd made her sick, literally. Frowning, Emmett pulled the emergency stop on the bus and got off quickly and began running in the other direction towards Daphne's house. He knew full and well that if he'd gotten Daphne sick, Daphne would most likely make Regina sick and then Adrianna. He'd infected the family he'd become so dependent on, he was just that contagious.

When he reached the house, he knocked as gently as possible on the door, at the risk Daphne would wake up. Regina appeared at the door, appearing as well as ever, if a little annoyed. Seeing it was Emmett, her face brightened a fraction and she let him in. "Hello, Emmett. Are you here to see Daphne? She's come down with the flue and a nasty attitude too."

Emmett cocked an eyebrow. Tense, panicky, anxious, and painstakingly precise, yes, but Daphne was always as polite as possible. In fact, it had taken weeks of being around Emmett for Daphne to finally start arguing against the little annoying things Emmett made her do. "I heard she went home sick and I came to check on her. You know, like she did when I was sick before."

She nodded and returned to the stove, pouring soup into a bowl on a tray with a couple of crackers and a spoon. "That's terribly sweet of you, I'm afraid she's a bit of a brat when she's sick." She started towards the hallway but Emmett blocked her way and gently took the tray from her hands.

"I'll take it to her. You'll get sick and plus, I've got to fill her in on what happened after Carl Donald fell down the stairs this morning." He smirked brilliantly and carried the tray carefully down the hallway to Daphne's room and stopped outside the partially opened doorway.

A few more moments and Emmett realized with a stuttering laugh that Daphne was braiding her hair in bed. In the two years Emmett had known her, she never seemed the type to put a lot of effort into her appearance other than looking neat. He'd only ever seen her with her hair down straight or in a ponytail. Deciding it was adorable and enough ammo for the next time Emmett was caught in an awkward predicament, he opened the door with his foot and set the tray on the end of Daphne's nightstand. Daphne was sweaty and bundled in a mountain of blankets so thick she was only visible up to her shoulders. Picking up the thermometer, Emmett gently forced Daphne's head back and coaxed the plastic stick into her mouth and under her tongue. He sat on the edge of Daphne's mattress waiting for the reading and frowned at what he saw.

Daphne had stopped braiding, instead she was watching Emmett with a curious, disbelieving look on her bright pink face. Emmett pet her on the shoulder before helping her to sit up. Daphne struggled to take a few deep breaths before a coughing fit started. "Okay Daphne, let's get you up and full of hot soup. I got you sick, so I'll get you better. Maybe after you're done I'll run and get you an ice-pack and some medicine? Break that fever? Sound good?" When Daphne didn't respond, Emmett mentally kicked himself. He was talking at Daphne, the way his mother had when he'd been sick as a boy.

He stayed until Daphne finished most of soup and promptly passed out, her small hands clammy and heated to the touch. Emmett sighed and brought the tray to the kitchen, along with the thermometer reflecting Daphne's fever. He showed it to Mrs. Vasquez, nerves increasing at the frown on her face.

"Is it worse?" he asked, watching as she retrieved the phone and dialed a well memorized number before responding. She put her coat and her shoes.

"A few degrees higher than this morning. Was she having trouble breathing?" she asked, before answering the other line on the phone. "Yes, my daughter, Daphne Vasquez has the flu and it's getting worse." Emmett's heart started to pound a bit faster as Regina gave him a reassuring glance before handing him a bottle of medicine and shooing him down the hallway.

He entered Daphne's room for the second time and instead of feeling at home amongst the many posters of Rye-Rye and The Neon Trees, he felt unwelcome, like a pathogen to Daphne's sanctuary. It was his fault Daphne was tossing and turning, shivering and sweating in her bed. She looked frail, so helpless and it was all Emmett's fault. If he hadn't of been so fucking selfish… he stood there for a moment, guilt shaking the core of his bones before he forced himself forward. Mrs. Vasquez had given him a task and he was going to do it.

He kneeled by Daphne's bed and felt her forehead, having felt his mother do this many times before, noting how warm Daphne was. Emmett's throat locked with apology at the way Daphne pressed her forehead into Emmett's cool palm. He had to try a few times before his soft jabs had her opening her eyes all the way. "Daphne, you need to take your medicine." Daphne turned her head away from Emmett and pushed at him blindly, making Emmett feel worse than he would have if Daphne had actually punched him in the face. "Come on, buddy. Tasty, tasty… disgusting purple syrup. It'll make you feel better." He laid his palm along the stretch of Daphne's neck, trying to force her to raise her head.

Daphne was murmuring a steady stream of incoherencies Emmett could not read from her lips. He tried to hold the cap of syrup to her lips and she lazily signed, "No, it makes me sick."

Emmett gave a small smile. "No, babe, I made you sick. Emmett made you sick." He signed to Daphne. He rubbed his fist clockwise on his chest to both say he was sorry and to rub away the guilt building up in his chest.

At that Daphne focused her eyes and looked clearly at Emmett'. "He did. He gave me cooties." And worried sick or not, Emmett would remember this for years to come.

"Yeah." Emmett chuckled, absently stroking the side of Daphne's neck. "You never got your cootie shot. I bet you regret that now, buddy."

The sick teenager gave a small shiver and closed her eyes halfways, leaning into Emmett's hand. "Yeah, I do."

Emmett moved the bottle closed to her and leaned forward to Daphne, so she didn't have to make such an effort to look at his hands. "But I can give you some medicine now that will help. You'll be better in no time. Breaking hearts left and right." He poured some of the sticky substance onto the spoon and held it steadily, knowing if he dropped even a bit of it, Daphne would make him lick it up.

Daphne shook her head, muttering between short gasps of breath, "No." Emmett took advantage and lowered Daphne's jaw with his thumb and, as gently as possible, forced the medicine in. He ran his fingers down the column of Daphne's feverish neck as she swallowed the foul-tasting liquid.

 _There we go_. He set the spoon and medicine back on the nightstand and sat back on his heels, still running a comforting hand along Daphne's neck.

They remained in silence except for the occasional gasp for air and coughing fit until Daphne opened one eye and said, "Say something." She coughed, roughly and hoarse enough Emmett debated forcing more medicine down her throat because it wasn't working fast enough for his comfort. When it was over, Emmett was surprised to realize the lump in his throat had arisen from alarm. Daphne clenched her eyes shut, her muscles tensing before he continued after what felt like an hour. "Talk to me."

Emmett felt utterly useless. Like he always felt when something had been asked of him and it didn't feel like enough in exchange for what he'd been given. When Regina asked him to help with a chore in exchange for having someone to talk to. When Daphne asked him to play basketball with her for getting to feel what it was like to have a sibling.

"Talk, about what, Daphne? About anything?" That seemed to set off another coughing spell that left Daphne breathless and Emmett speechless for what felt like the second time in his life. He reached his other hand up to cradle Daphne's head through the worst of it, butterflies at the way Daphne welcomed his touch.

"Anything," she clarified before settling back into the comfort of her pillows and Emmett's warm hands on the sides of her face, now. "Please."

Emmett didn't miss a beat before letting his hands take over and fly because for once Daphne had asked him to. It was the least he could give in exchange for… giving Emmett everything he'd gotten used to living without. "My mom used to tuck me in at night, before it got like it was. She'd call me her 'Little Man' and sometimes when I had to do something important, like help with the 'big kid' chores, she'd call me her 'Little Man' and it made me feel important. Cameron used to take me fishing before I was old enough to realize it was just a whole lot of sitting in still water waiting for nothing. I miss it sometimes but I think we've gotten past the point of being able to sit around without fighting. I never told you this, but I used to have a little sister. Her name was Sheila but she died. My parents started fighting after that. I miss my dad still. He's at home now but I still feel all alone. I'm pretty sure Chris Donnor wanted to ask you out at the fair last year, how weird is that? Unless you don't think it is, it's just, Daphne, we're freshmen and we can't be that weird yet…"

He spoke for hours about nothing and about everything. He told Daphne secrets he'd kept locked down out of fear of giving Daphne ammunition to embarrass him, or worse, leave and never come back. He talked until his voice and the calm stroking of Daphne's clammy skin lulled them both to sleep.

He woke hours later in the dark of the night having crawled into bed beside Daphne and on top of the covers, his forearm cramped from resting protectively over Daphne's chest and her heart, feeling her fluttering heartbeats through the night. He was too tired to move but awake enough to see Regina attempting to leave the room. He waved his arm to get her attention.

"Shh, go back to sleep." Emmett could barely make out her hand movements in the dim light. "I spoke to your mother and she said it's okay for you to stay over." She crouched down next to the bed.

"Is Daphne going to die?" His hands, facing opposite directions shook.

Regina shook her head and pet his hand gently. "She has the flu, like you did, and I suspect you gave it to her." At the abashed look on Emmett's face, she made light of it. "She'll be fine, Emmett. You know what a fighter she is."

She gave him one last reassuring smile before turning to leave the room. And Emmett knew what he'd been given hadn't been deserved. He settled next to Daphne, snuggled by her side. He fell asleep with Daphne's hand in his and he knew he's find a way to earn this for real.

* * *

Daphne met Liam Lupo on a Tuesday after Mr. Trainor's English class, two months after the pilot program where Carlton allowed hearing students to enroll and two months into their sophomore year. It was quite cliché, to say the least, in the way that they met in the cheesiest manner possible. Emmett had convinced Daphne to be his model for the motorcycle he had gotten for his birthday from Cameron and use the camera his mom bought him. He wanted to add those pictures to his bulletin board of what was already maybe close to seventy pictures of Daphne and him. Emmett had excitedly pushed Daphne to the doorway as class ended and inevitably shoved Daphne into a board chest, knocking down the millions of tomes in her hands to the floor.

Daphne sighed and knelt to the floor to pick them up, apologizing all the way down. "I'm so sorry," she signed repeatedly, watching as the stranger she'd slammed into knelt down to help.

Brown eyes beamed brightly at her as he smiled and helped Daphne collect her books. "It's fine. Really." Emmett mouth curled at the sight of the guy struggling to make a simple sign for "fine." "I'm Liam," he signed each letter slowly, trying to elongate each syllable out loud.

"Daphne," she supplied out loud and signed, ignoring Emmett's scoff in her ear. "You can speak normally. Most of us here are pretty good lip readers." Daphne smiled sweetly and politely.

Liam held out the rest of Daphne's things, pausing when his hands found the folder with a large print out of Daphne's favorite bands taped to the front. "You know Benga and Coki?"

Demurely, Daphne scratched at her neck. "Yeah," she laughed. "Their beats are strangely satisfying."

Smirking, Liam explained, "Because it looks like we have something in common. Most of my friends can't stand it."

"Except you. And me, apparently." Daphne shot back slyly, and Emmett suddenly didn't like where this seemed to be going. Tugging on the back of Daphne's shirt, he interrupted rather rudely, the way he did when he was in a hurry and Daphne was wasting his time with pleasantries of scolding Emmett on his lack of them.

"Daphne, come on. We have an engagement with a motorcycle and a camera." He put his arm around Daphne's back and pushed forward but for once, the shorter girl wouldn't budge. "Daphne?"

Liam was eyeing Daphne with an expression that would've been outlawed in the state of Missouri if Emmett had his way. Everything about his eyes said he was curious, liked what he saw, and wanted more of it. It was the first time Daphne had ever been noticed in such a positive light. It was also the first time Emmett was struck with an innate surge of possessiveness over Daphne.

He decided that he didn't like Liam within the two seconds he'd ruined his exit. He decided he hated Liam in the two minutes it took him to eye Daphne up and down and flirt shamelessly. He didn't know that Daphne was naïve and blind as a bat when it came to attraction, especially attraction aimed at her. Emmett was pissed.

The warning light for the next class flashed but for once, Daphne didn't move. Liam glanced at the quickly filing classroom before turning back to Daphne, a sly look on his face. "I'm actually a student at Buckner Hall so I'm only taking the English class here." Daphne and Liam gazed at each other for a few more moments before Liam asked, "Can I call you? You know, if you ever want to help me with my sign language?

Emmett rolled his eyes, knowing there was no way Daphne wouldn't see right through that. "Of course." Ripping out a sheet of notebook paper, Daphne scrawled her number across the top, followed by her name, in painstakingly neat handwriting that put Emmett right back into the body of that lonely twelve-year-old sitting at the back of the classroom. "Or-or I can meet with you," she said just as Liam handed her a paper of his own with his number.

Emmett didn't notice how closely he was pressed against Daphne, the hand that was around her gripping her sides until he was jabbed pretty roughly in the stomach by Daphne's elbow as she reached across to hand Liam the sheet. Liam shot an amused glance at Emmett, plastered against Daphne's back before adding, "We'll definitely meet soon, Daphne. See you around?"

Daphne nodded adamantly, jostling Emmett's grip a bit. "Yeah. See you around." In something like 90210, the girl with starry-eyes would turn around, jaw dropped in excitement before squealing. Or maybe she would drop back against the nearest wall and sign with disbelief at her luck. Emmett would have preferred either of those to Daphne's hands gently pulling Emmett's hands from around her waist where they had been slowly, steadfastly pulling Daphne against his front and away from Liam.

"Emmett, what's going on? If you were attempting the Heimlich Maneuver, you're doing it completely wrong. Your hands are way too low," she added, like nothing had changed, like she hadn't just practically had her arms around that guy right in front of him. Emmett shoved past her, ignoring the flush of warmth against his side and walked towards the front of school, knowing that Daphne was hurrying after him.

Daphne met Liam Lupo on a Tuesday after Mr. Trainor's English class on the same day Emmett met the only person to steal Daphne's attention away from him. And Emmett didn't like him one bit.

* * *

At fourteen, Emmett supposed it was normal to dream about his best friend. At fifteen, he figured it was even normal to have wet dreams at sleepovers with his best friend…and oh so freakin' unfortunate. At sixteen, he noticed it wasn't that normal to have wet dreams at sleepovers with his best friend _about_ his best friend in the house where her mother trusted him fully. But when had Emmet ever been normal?

He told himself it wasn't really about Daphne, that he was interpreting it wrong. He tried to stop; always managing to either picture whatever girl that had looked at him twice that week or just resist the urge to jack off period. Daphne had always been comfortable around him, sometimes stripping off down to her camisole and jeans after school on a hot day. Her hair would loosen from her ponytail and she'd turn, her blue eyes sparking, and tell him a joke she was saving for him. It didn't help that as he pictured another girl, he'd open his eyes to see a hundred pictures of her on his bulletin board that she sometimes even held the camera for. It got worse; he'd lose any sense of control over his lower half.

Once, Daphne set him off without realizing it. He slept over at Daphne's house when his mom and Cameron went to a couple's therapy session and Regina had gone on a date and the two decided to make brownies. Emmett was ambling through the kitchen, searching for the ingredients. Daphne read the recipe, signing directions quickly, having him stop every few seconds to make sure he got everything before moving on.

"You know, I can read just as good as you can. I could be reading the recipe and you could be running around the kitchen like I am," he barked, or rather signed aggressively. He reached the flour in the top cabinet. He held back a sneeze from the dust that fell.

"Yeah, if you call that running, I'd hate to see what you'd do if there was a real emergency," Daphne shot back, sending the familiar sting of pride through Emmett's body. It had taken a while but Daphne was finally getting used to the fact that she was allowed to be rude and sarcastic to a friend. Meanwhile Emmett was still learning that he was allowed to get attached to someone, that they wouldn't disappear the second he'd really started to care. "Will you just get over here so I can start?"

He stuck out his tongue at her, but he marched over obediently with the flour and watched as Daphne poured the right amount into a measuring cup. She handed it absently to Emmett and within seconds, Emmett sneezed, spraying flour everywhere, all over Daphne's blue button-down.

Daphne paused, eyes clenched, flour whitening her long eyelashes and Emmett started laughing. He hadn't gotten off completely clean, flour lining the bottom of his pant legs and t-shirt. "Sorry," he stated, sarcasm bleeding through with the big smile plastered on his face. Daphne opened her eyes, a wicked tint to them and a smirk on her face.

Their flour fight was inevitable and the worst kind of messy. They'd raced and fought their way to the bathroom and Daphne forced him into the bathtub and turned the faucet on. She was too slow to close the door and lock Emmett in before she was yanked in by her powdered covered shirt. Daphne glared at him through wet eyelashes and she was drenched in cold water in minutes. They slipped and slid for a minute embellished by silent laughter.

"Emmett, you're a jerk!" she said, trying to escape but Emmett trapped her in a half-assed embrace that allowed Daphne enough freedom to slither around the enclosed space, wet fabric adding weight. Daphne's damp hair plastering Emmett's neck and face made it a little hard to make out where he ended and Daphne began. But then again, it had always been that way.

"But you love me," Emmett retorted, pulling Daphne harder against him trying to get her wetter still. Daphne growled lowly from the pit of her stomach and threw her weight into Emmett.

They slammed pretty hard into the tiled wall behind Emmett's back but the small knot on the back of his head did nothing to stop Emmett from involuntarily thrusting into the sweet friction of Daphne's hips against his. Emmett had clenched his eyes shut, trying to stifle a ragged moan. But Daphne wasn't done, she pushed again trying to break Emmett's grasp around her body and only achieving in reacquainting Emmett with the fact that Daphne was here, hot and drenched against his body, the top buttons of her shirt already undone from their struggle. And when Daphne tried again, Emmett barely managed to shove her back in time before he slammed his head into the wall and came with a strangled groan, lip caught in his teeth painfully.

And then Emmett had thanked God for both their deafness and Daphne's naivete. "Emmett, are you okay? I didn't know I pushed that hard. I'm sorry." The genuine concern in her eyes forced a laugh out of Emmett's mouth.

"I'm okay, Daphne," he said while panting. He wasn't really, he was wet and sticky, and he'd cracked his head pretty hard. He knew if he went to sleep that night in the same bed as Daphne (something Regina was trying to mend by purchasing an air mattress just for him which both teenagers abandoned after the first sleepover), so close to her warm body, he'd lose it all over again. Somehow, he convinced Daphne to let him take the first bath and he spent the time jerking off until the water went cold.

So, after that embarrassment, Emmett rationalized that there was no harm in giving in at home in his bed. When Daphne wasn't there.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Emmett had been right about Liam Lupo, despite Daphne's previous misconceptions. That didn't stop the extreme awkwardness of the realization weeks later, stretched out on her stomach on Emmett's bedroom recounting her situation.

"He just asked if I wanted to go to a closed-captioned movie with him, I said 'yes.' How is that a date?" Daphne argued, shoving M&M's in her mouth.

Emmett rolled his eyes at Daphne's innocence and the stupid jealousy clawing at the back of his throat. He'd claimed the credit as the only person, aside from Regina and Adrianna to see Daphne's hidden worth and he didn't like the idea of his title being disputed. Who did Liam Lupo think he was?

"Daphne, it's a date because he asked for your address and gave you a time. At which he will arrive at your door, throw you over his shoulder like a caveman and take you to the backseat of his Mercedes to sully your lilly-white virginity to the sultry sounds of Cure." He rolled over and reached for the Coke-stained Webster's dictionary under his bed. He cracked it at the middle, pointed, and then said, "See, date. Says so, right here."

Daphne threw a candy in Emmett's direction and gave a look of discontent when he caught it in his mouth. "Okay, so what do I do?" she asked after a beat.

"Well, it's a free movie with the possibility of getting off with someone in the backseat of a car; I'd say go for it, Daphne," Emmett said, looking anywhere but at the unblemished trust in Daphne's eyes.

He couldn't ignore the pure light in Daphne's eyes when she spoke to Liam after his English class about the new artsy French film that Emmett had raved about for the past month. Emmett had planned to surprise her with two tickets a few weeks later but it seemed Liam had beaten him to the punch and that expression of non-manipulated joy on Daphne's face belonged to Liam now. And whose fault was that?

He knew just what it would take, what he could say to get Daphne to go home and call Liam right now, faking a sore throat and cough. He knew just what to say to make Daphne never go near Liam again, even just to borrow a pencil or a sheet of paper. And Daphne would be none the wiser, because somewhere along their lopsided, uneven friendship, Daphne had grown to trust Emmett more than she trusted herself sometimes. Emmett maintained that he hadn't begun to abuse that until sophomore year. That was the year his father stayed away for six months straight and Emmett realized he'd have to stop expecting anything from him so much. That was the year Regina had slowly begun answering her door with disapproval instead of warm, welcoming smiles. After all, that was the year Emmett got Daphne drunk for the first time and helped her stagger all the way home before she hurled in the garden. The absolute fiery anger on Regina's face was enough to sober him up and help tuck Daphne into bed that night and the sad look in his own mother's eyes as she told him to go to his room deepened the crack in his heart.

Emmett had learned that year that nothing was infallible.

Emmet knew just what to say to shut Daphne back into his little orbit for a little longer, but he wouldn't. He'd let Daphne take a chance of her own. "Go for it, buddy. Let me know how it goes." And as Daphne got up to go home and get ready, Emmett added for clarity, "The movie, not the fucking."

And he could pretend he was proud when Daphne flipped him the bird instead of nostalgic for times when a gesture like that from Emmett earned him a scold and the silent treatment for the next five minutes.

That night cracked the protective shell of Emmett's denial. He spent the night cumming into his hands, the taste of root beer and Daphne's name tattooed on his tongue like a fresh brand just beginning to ache.

* * *

Liam was everything Daphne never thought she could have. He was tall, muscular, and his eyes were the most chocolatey brown Daphne had ever seen. He wore jeans and his school's letterman jacket and his shirts never appeared frazzled or stressed, despite him taking the extra workload of learning sign language. He was just as smart, if not smarter than Daphne. His hands, Daphne's favorite part of him, were large, warm, and inviting. Earlier that morning while she had been alone in her bed contemplating whether or not to tell Emmett, Daphne had established just what made Liam so great. He was different from Emmett in just about every way.

When Daphne told him one of those weird, far from useful factoids she'd learned in one of the many documentaries she watched, Liam didn't call her a dork for knowing them. If Daphne asked him for help carrying her books after class, Liam didn't refuse. And when Daphne told him that she liked him, he just smiled and said, "I like you too, Daphne." He didn't shove her playfully and tell her, "Of course you do, I'm adorable," like Emmett did.

After they'd met, Daphne had taken to hanging out with Liam after school when Emmett wasn't on her tail planning out potential photoshoots, or drag her to another motorcycle show, or continue their adventure of trying every pizza place in the city. It felt dangerous keeping a secret from Emmett; like she never had before. Sometimes she even felt guilty for it. But then she would remember that it wasn't as if she was sneaking off in the middle of the night to set fireworks off in the abandoned field behind the school with Liam. Or planting photographs in Daphne's tiny backyard or metal lunchboxes with house keys in Emmett's backyard in case of an emergency with Liam. And she certainly didn't spend weekends doing nothing other than sitting around watching Deafenstein in pajamas with Liam. Just the thought gave an odd chill down Daphne's spine, along with a flush of heat.

That night, Daphne had opened the door and greeted Liam with a nervous smile. Having been unsure of what to wear, she'd picked out the most casual outfit she owned: a pair of leggings, a top with printed daisies, and pink cardigan that Emmett had bought her for last year's birthday.

The first sign that Emmett might have been right about this being a date came when instead of shoving Daphne out of the house and down the driveway like Emmett would have done, Liam grasped her palm and walked beside her to his car. The second sign came hallway through the French film when Liam leaned across the seat, hands placed gently on Daphne's neck as their lips met at a pace so slow it made Daphne tense with anticipation. The tiny film star was in the middle of a heartfelt monologue but Daphne' didn't hear a thing.

* * *

It had been a week since Emmett and Daphne's conversation and Daphne was still acting weird. Whenever Emmett brought it up, she'd clam up and change the subject and if they passed Liam in the hallway on their way out of school, Daphne would tense and lower her gaze to the tiled floor. It was never-wracking to say the least and if Emmett didn't get answers soon, he was going to do something drastic.

He pestered Daphne whenever they were alone, throwing questions at her like bullets until Daphne either snapped or left her own bedroom. "Come on, you gotta give me something. Did he make a move, did you puke from the nerves? Did you chicken out at the last minute and not go after all?" When that earned nothing, he pushed further. "Did your cops catch you in the back seat of his car? Cause that's always a boner-killer."

Daphne bit her lip and decided it was safe to say, "Nothing happened. I'm fine."

This only served the purpose of causing Emmett to thoroughly assure himself that something had indeed happened, and Daphne was _not_ fine. After all, she'd been saying she was "fine" over the years whenever she was in fact _not_ fine. This onslaught caused Emmett to start the first fight of their sophomore year, with a pilot project kid, causing instant fame, for a while at least.

He'd watched the awkward exchange between Daphne and Liam one too many times. He'd cornered Liam in the hall after the last period and a badly timed shove threw Emmett into Liam, throwing Liam into a locker, causing a loud slam and grabbing the attention of everyone around.

Daphne, a few feet away looked stricken, embarrassed, and…when Emmett looked closer, fearful. Emmett leaned in as close as possible so he could look straight into Liam's eye and spoke for the first time since he was eight years old and saw the little blonde haired girl getting bullied on the sidewalk. "What did you do to Daphne?"

Liam tilted his chin up in defiance, serving only to make Emmett yank it down. "Ow, shit. What's your problem, Bledsoe?" He tried to jerk his head to the side before Emmett gripped his chin roughly and pulled it forward.

Emmett stared deep into the brown eyes Daphne had probably fallen for because she was a sucker for a pair of nice eyes. She'd never been able to see what Emmett saw in his best friend's eyes, the honesty, the loyalty, and the innocence that he hadn't properly protected. And that was all his fault, but he could right some of that now.

"Ow, let me go!"

"What the _fuck_ did you do?" Emmett growled, low and deep from the deep pit of his stomach. A lull fell over the crowd and he knew Daphne would be angry with him for at least a week now. He knew most of the students were surprised to see him communicating without sign for the first time ever.

Some part of him was too pissed to care. He already felt like he knew; he knew what the fucker had done. He'd probably taken Daphne to a movie, listened to her talk excitedly until the movie started and let her ramble on and one about how awesome or contrived it was afterwards. Then he'd taken Daphne back to his car and he'd probably tried to make a movie. And when Daphne stopped him after a few minutes of giving in, he'd probably called her a prude and driven her home knowing Daphne would feel guilty. Then, like the pathetic asshole he was, he'd dropped Daphne off before going home to sulk and jack off.

Ruth matched his glare with one of her own, sneering, "I didn't do a thing. I took her out, we had a nice time. I drove us to a pond and we started kissing." Emmett balked when he began describing. "Things got a little heated and I stuck my hand down her pants," His voice never stuttered, resonating loudly in the hallway. Emmett's cheeks warmed a little out of embarrassment of what he was saying out loud so proudly. He suddenly coughed violently. Confused, Emmett leaned back to realized his forearm was steadily crushing Liam's windpipe. He reluctantly eased up a bit and watched as Liam coughed a bit before continuing. "She seemed pretty into it until she said she had to go. She mumbled something about 'Emmett being right' and then said she wanted to go home." He raised one eyebrow as if to say "there, that's it, asshole."

Emmett took a step back, again realizing his knee had been locked on Liam's groin. He shook his head before seeking Daphne. He turned a few corners before entering the boy's bathroom. The last stall from the wall, the one they'd spent an hour one skipped science period covering in inspirational quotes with Emmett's spin on it for the hell of it. Emmett knew before he pushed that the door was unlatched. Daphne was sitting on top of the seat, head in her hands.

He entered and leaned against the right wall. "You know, if you keep this up, you may develop a nasty problem with voyeurs. I can't be your hero forever, Daphne." Daphne didn't answer. "Talk to me."

Daphne stood and leaned against the opposite wall, her head lowered. "I don't want to."

Emmett tilted his head, trying to catch Daphne's eye line. "Come on, please? For me?"

Daphne shook her head shoving Emmett back into the wall. He slammed rather roughly into the metal wall, blaming Daphne's mood for the force but knowing she'd meant it to hurt.. After a beat, a muttered "Sorry" without signing.

And Emmett laughed because even now, after so many years, Daphne would never be anything other than polite. Which is why Liam's story had rung true. He hadn't meant to, but he'd ruined Daphne's first sexual experience. Fuck it, he'd meant to, he'd even wanted to. Daphne had no business being in Liam Lupo's car when it should've been on Emmett's motorcycle as they raced down the road to spend the evening in a park or eating pizza.

That's what he should've been doing but Emmett didn't want to say it out loud. Not when Daphne was feeling… feeling what exactly? Ashamed, angry, hurt, all of the above?

"Daphne, talk to me. What's wrong?" Emmett tried again, the pure confusion in his face lifted Daphne's eyes to his for the first time since she'd locked them in the stall together. And when she did, Emmett instantly wished she hadn't.

Those eyes, the ones that attracted Emmett to Daphne in the first place were now dark and unrecognizable. Where the core had once held such light, such bright and unwavering faith in security, it was now dim and fading fast. The screen of innocence and blissful unawareness had broken, and Emmett's breath caught with regret. Daphne was truly hurt for the first time that Emmett had ever seen, and he'd put that look on Daphne's face. He'd put that hurt in Daphne's life. His knees felt weak as he was overcome with the unshakeable need to be away, this was suffocating.

"You make jokes out of everything- out of _everything_ I do," Daphne spat.

"Daphne," he forced out before Daphne gratefully lowered her eyes again.

"I liked it, Emmett. A lot. It was different. It felt like his hands, Liam's hands, were everywhere. I wanted it so much, it actually _hurt_." She paused, hands tight around his knees. "Then it, it started to feel wrong; like you were _right there_ , right there _watching_ and that made it wrong." A sniffle and Daphne wiped stubbornly at her eyes. Emmett sank to the floor, ignoring a younger-Daphne's advice about all the germs on bathroom floors. Daphne sniffed a few more times, trying to hide her obvious tears until they were coming too fast for even Emmett to pretend not to see. For Emmett to be able ignore the beautifully horrid fact that some part of his best friend was breaking. Daphne turned her eyes up again, looking angrier than before and Emmett felt a part of his heart crack apart.

He stood to unsteady feet, unsure of what to do. He'd apologize but it just wouldn't be enough. He didn't know what to do. He eventually stumbled forward, reaching out blindly for Daphne as the stall door was unlatched and Emmett was left alone.

* * *

A week after "that Bledsoe kid found the pilot project kid," Emmett was sneaking into Daphne's window. They had an unofficial system; if Emmett wanted to come over because his parents had a fight that night or he just didn't want to be alone, he'd ride his motorcycle till he was a couple blocks away from the Vasquez's house and walk the rest of the way with his bike and stash it in their backyard, climb on Regina's planter boxes and knock on Daphne's window. Emmett ignored it completely tonight, choosing instead to just open the window and climb right in.

Throwing his jacket off and his shoes randomly on the floor, Emmett undressed bit by bit before climbing into Dapne's bed. Daphne woke up just as Emmett was falling asleep and saw the young man's eyes were halfway open. Too tired to push him away entirely, Daphne just groaned in annoyance and pouted, making Emmett's stomach flutter, from guilt he was sure. "Go away. Still mad." She wasn't sure how well Emmett could even see her in just the moonlight.

But it didn't seem to matter because Emmett tried in vain to wrap his arms around Daphne's sluggish form. When she pushed at his chest -his _firm_ bare chest, she noticed, with his buttons halfway undone. "I don't care," he signed. "You're my best friend and I'm going to fix this. Whatever it takes." He paused for a moment. "I'll even fix things with Liam if I have to." He buried his face under Daphne's neck, not wanting her to see his face.

Daphne tried to pull away again, kicking at Emmett meagerly. "Get off of me, I'll tell my mom," she threatened, a smile tugging at her lips when Emmett buried his face into her neck again and she felt the breath of his laugh. It was too familiar, too like them to be annoying each other in the dead of night.

Emmett pulled back and teased, "Big fat baby, Daphne. Go ahead, tell your mom and I'll tell her who really broke Adrianna's sewing machine." He was pleased when he felt her relax closer to him. His heart unclenched as the tension in Daphne's muscles gave way.

"Go ahead. Wasn't my fault anyway. You made me." Daphne rolled over away from Emmett and laid her head back onto her pillows but remained close to him, relishing in the familiar smell of the garden and that stupid aftershave Emmett had stolen from his father's cabinet. She was just falling into a calm slumber when her brain cataloged what made the smell so comforting. Emmett smelled like home; his scent made up a part of her house, the garden, and a part of Emmett, _was_ home and the revelation overwhelmed her sense and a fraction of the security that held Daphne afloat returned.

Emmett stroked the side of Daphne's, listening to the sounds of Daphne's breath slowing into sleep. This was getting a bit ridiculous. He'd come over under the guise of fixing the rift between them when in actuality, he'd been fed up with trying and failing to fall asleep on his own for the past week. With his dad gone for consecutive months, rather than be at home with his son and his mother, he felt more alone than ever. He hadn't realized how much his refuge depended on Daphne. Not just the availability of the Vasquez's house but Daphne, period.

He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that as long as he had Daphne's faith, Daphne's trust, someone to fight for…he could never be truly alone.

* * *

Daphne was babbling on about something Emmett had no interest in, but he was listening anyway because when Daphne spoke, he listened. And she was tracing shapes sweetly on Emmett's forearm when she finished talking, light enough not to hurt but hard enough to feel. And he was remembering what his mother told him about the truth in the little details in the little moments of his life.

"So, that's why Ursa Minor is my favorite constellation," Daphne finished, a thoughtful smile on her face. She rolled to her side and upon seeing the lost look hollowed in Emmett's eyes she asked, "Emmett? You okay?"

Rolling his head from side to side against the coarse material of his rug, Emmett opened and closed his mouth a few times before responding. "I want to tell you about my sister, but I don't know how." Every time he swallowed, his mouth was tasted salty and dry. He wanted to tell Daphne that he hadn't done anything wrong even though he wasn't sure because he didn't want Daphne to hate him.

Daphne tried to make light of it. "That's easy. Just put your hands up -like this – and start moving them." But Emmett didn't crack a sliver of a grin. Instead, he sat up and stared at the darkening sky pictured in his open window. And he remembered the smell of his sister's cinnamon shampoo, the feel of her soft skin against his own when he taught her how to cut perfect straight lines in construction paper. And the movement of her mouth as she sang after begging him to listen because she was too young to understand that he couldn't.

Until he thought the feel of his sister hugging him with all her strength. Until he remembered the lights turning on in the middle of the night and seeing shadows passing by his door. Until he imagined his mother's face looking frantic and the red and blue lights flashing outside his house. Until he could see Cameron mourning and the box of Sheila's things being put away in a closet. Until he felt Cameron's hand tight around his six-year-old wrist after he'd spilled Sheila's stuff out all over the hallway. Until he recalled when he'd been old enough to know what he'd lost during Family Day in elementary school.

He had all these fragmented, disjointed memories and none of them were enough. He couldn't remember the smell of baby powder on her skin when she'd hugged him. He couldn't recall his mother signing to them to say they were cute and he'd sign thank you and his little sister would do the same but speak out loud like her school taught her to. He couldn't remember those things that made them the most important.

He was jerked out of reverie when a hand touched his shoulder. Flinching away, he shivered, eyes still watching the changing shades of nightfall. "Can we not talk for a while?"

They sat quietly through dinner and through most of the night until Emmett shook Daphne awake at two in the morning. He took a deep breath and began to sign. "Today, Sheila would've turned fifteen. She used to come into my room at night, usually when it stormed, almost ready to cry because she was just _that_ scared. She'd crawl into my bed…."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Let me in! I wanna see Daphne!" Emmett barked, banging on the door and shoving through the Vasquez's doorway. His heart was racing and he was frantic. He'd rushed over after Trey Prockett's party convinced Daphne didn't love him anymore and he had to fix it. "I wanna see Daphne! Now!"

Daphne awoke to the bright light shining through her open doorway during the last month of her junior to senior summer break. She knew the only reason anyone would be up at this hour and considered not going down the hallway to see what all the commotion was. Part of her was pleased that Emmett had come over of his own volition. They hadn't spoken lately and the last time they had, it seemed as if they had nothing to speak about. Despite everything Daphne had done to try to stop it, she and Emmett had begun to grow apart.

Adrianna stood in the doorway to the living room, hand over her mouth, yet not a hair out of place. Regina stood in front of her, a stern expression on her face. I think you should leave, Emmett," she signed diplomatically.

Emmett shook his head, pressing forward, an arrogant whine coming out when Regina stopped him by the shoulders. "No, not until I see Daphne," he signed. And it was like them, just like the Vasquez's, keeping Daphne from him when he really needed her. He convinced himself that they hated him, and they always had. That they'd probably only put up with him because of Daphne' just like his parents put up with him because he was the only child they had left. "Why are you doing this? I just want to see my friend."

Adrianna clicked her tongue with a frown on her face. "I've heard on good authority that you and my granddaughter are no longer friends."

Emmett pressed a hand to his chest, trying to slow his aching heartbeat. _That's not right_ , he thought. Though in the back of his mind, he knew it was partly true. "Who'd you hear that from?"

Not a change in expression, "Daphne."

Emmett lowered his eyes to the floor, vision blurring as his head seemed to swim with the motion. He suddenly felt sick. "I just want to see her." He lowered himself into a chair near the door, head in his hands. "Please."

Regina moved forward, as if to physically remove Emmett from her house and, seeing this, Daphne came down the hallway, a solemn look of responsibility on her face. Adrianna stopped her as she walked through the hallway. "You don't have to do this," she said at the same time Regina added, "This is unacceptable. I don't want you two hanging around together anymore."

Daphne wanted to say, "We haven't been hanging around together lately, anyway, nice of you to notice, mom," but she just nodded absently, assured them she'd be okay with a smile and sat down next to Emmett on the floor. She examined the dark shadows on Emmett's face, his messy hair and remembered when he'd been allowed to come over in the dead of the summer night. It was a while before Emmett said anything. It was a while before he even looked up to see Daphne was there.

Tiredly, "You wanted me, you got me," Daphne said, grimacing. She couldn't imagine what Emmett wanted. The last time they'd really seen each other face to face, Daphne had gotten back from her summer internship at University of Missouri. Daphne remembered it being odd because it was so unlike their reunion years ago when Emmett had refused to go to basketball camp and Daphne had gone without him, Emmett was waiting for her in her room with a list of things they still needed to do for the rest of the summer.

He'd been wearing a Metallica t-shirt and a leather jacket, and his hair had been cropped extremely short like her friend Ty Mendoza, who she'd had a huge crush on before he left for the military. Daphne ran down the hallway, excited to show Emmett all the new moves she had learned, even though Emmett would think it was lame. She didn't even care because Chris Donner had been a fun friend for a while, but he kept saying all these weird things and got upset whenever Daphne talked about Emmett.

Emmett actually listened to everything Daphne said, teased her about Chris's supposed crush on her and tried to act like he didn't care that Daphne had fun without him. When Daphne was finished, Emmett told him that Daphne's mom was way more fun that her and knew how to make delicious desserts too as a bonus. He claimed that he missed Daphne only a little, but Daphne smiled and knew deep down that Emmett had been waiting in her room because he'd been just as eager to see Daphne again.

She'd gotten a few phone calls and a few texts telling her that Emmett had had a few odd jobs, made some new friends, but if Silvia's video chats were anything to go by, those friends weren't exactly honor-roll students. When she'd gotten home from her internship, it was three weeks before Daphne even got a phone call. The worst part was that she hadn't even noticed what she was missing until she opened her closet and The Tornado fell down on top of her.

Now, Emmett looked up, face shiny with tears. He smiled blearily, "Daphne. You're here." He reached out and grasped Daphne's hands with his own, pulling her up from the floor and into the chair next to him. It was a tight fit. "You're really here."

Daphne grimaced at the smell of alcohol on Emmett's breath and refrained the need to hit him and yell at him for driving -which she _knows_ he did – and maintained their closeness. It was comforting in an odd way, being this near to Emmett again. Almost like nothing had changed. "Yeah, Emmett. I'm really awake at four in the morning. What do you want?"

Emmett leaned heavily against her, pressing Daphne into the cushions. "Don't be like that, Daphne." His damp face fell into the crook between Daphne's chin and shoulder and he looked like an overgrown child. Reluctantly, Daphne wrapped her arms around Emmett and prayed her mom and grandmother weren't coming down anytime soon to check on her. Breath misted over the skin of her neck, causing goosebumps as Emmett breathed. He signed, "This, Daphne…this is what I wanted."

After about ten minutes, Daphne coughed nervously and tried to assess the situation. "Emmett, we can't stay like this for the rest of the night."

"Why not?" Came the lazily signed response.

"Because you're obviously drunk and my mom could come back any minute." Daphne tried, attempting to push Emmett off of her but drunk and resisting, he felt like dead weight.

They fought like this until Emmett eventually sat up, almost falling over off balance. Sighing, he slumped down to the floor. "I need a place to crash."

Daphne crossed her arms and tried to refrain from biting her lip, a bad habit. "Yeah, why?"

"I'm moving out. I'm thinking of settling down with Mrs. Beaker down the road. She may be sixty but she's a feisty old gal—" he started.

"No bullshit, Emmett." Daphne cut in, already frustrated with Emmett's avoidance.

Emmett tried to grin up at Daphne but he was just too… everything. Maybe it was the pills, maybe it was the way the Vasquez's now treated him, maybe it was just his life. He was done with fighting. He slowly got to his feet, keeping eye contact with Daphne as he went. His heart began racing once more and his mouth went dry. He didn't know how long Daphne had had this effect on him but it felt like it'd been forever.

"I need a place to crash because my dad is coming over in the morning to pack his stuff. He's leaving." He bit his lip, observing Daphne for support, some sort of sign that Daphne wouldn't make him go back. "So… can I stay?"

Daphne didn't hesitate before stepping forward and pulling Emmett into her arms. Nails dug into her back as Emmett held on as tight as he could to Daphne. He didn't cry but his throat hurt too much from holding it back. Emmett knew if he hadn't gone out and gotten drunk that night, he would've died before depending on Daphne like this. At least not with her knowledge. "I'm sorry, Emmett," was all that Daphne would say and somehow Emmett knew it would be okay.

* * *

The beginning of Senior year changed Emmett and Daphne forever. More than their first fight over partnering with Silvia Salander in Chemistry class, more than Ty returning and going back to deployment, and more than Emmett losing his virginity to ex-girlfriend of Liam Lupo, Bay Kennish in the backseat of her Volkswagen.

He'd been so excited about it that he'd rushd right over to Daphne's house. He didn't stop to think that maybe bragging to Daphne about how he'd lost it with a girl on his first try when Daphne had barely even gotten to second base and never tried again, wasn't such a great idea -especially considering the girl he'd just been with was Liam Lupo's ex-girlfriend. The thought was forced into his mind when he'd fallen through Daphne's window in his haste and on top of Daphne's books. Granted, in determination to get into a good college and Emmett's newfound connections to the kids Regina wanted Daphne away from, they hadn't used the system in a while. After all, it was a lot easier to fall asleep in an empty house while he had sleeping pills and alcohol at his disposal.

He tripped over the books, and he held his breath and waited for Regina to barge in and scream at him. But the door remained shut and Daphne remained asleep on top of her covers in her pink camisole and blue boy-shorts. He swallowed thickly at the sight of the now visible scar of Daphne's right hip from climbing Mrs. Beaker's fence in the seventh grade. Emmett fell to his knees next to Daphne's bed, realizing with a shock that he hadn't seen Daphne in the last five weeks. They'd never gone that long before. And Daphne had called two days ago, asking when he was going to get around to filling out college applications with her, and Regina kept asking her and Emmett and Emmett had been coming around from a killer hangover topped off with a fight with his mother. He'd just forgotten. About college, about Daphne, about Regina and Adrianna, and about everything that had mattered to him before.

He'd replaced Daphne with uppers, downers, and anything he could get his hands on. Before, Daphne had been everything Emmett needed to keep life from getting too close to him, close enough to hurt. Without her, the only way he could safely escape it all came with a price tag in the form of chalky, white pills. But he had Daphne now, right here in front of him, at his disposal. He could see her, he could touch her, he could…he could even kiss her if he wanted to. And _fuck_ did he want to. He wanted it more than he wanted to spend the twenty burning a hole in his pocket on the pills Freddy Simmons had in his car.

Emmett scooted even closer to Daphne's blissfully unaware form. He rose higher and tried to blend into the stillness of the moment, like he belonged here. He reached out and, with gentles he'd forgotten he remembered, lightly stroked the side of Daphne's cheek, heart pounding in his chest the way no drug had managed to achieve. He pulled Daphne's face closer to his, as close as he dared before allowing their lips to touch, just briefly before he ruined it with his neediness. The softness of the moment, the stillness in the air, the warmth of the kiss, of _Daphne_ , all of it gave a lift to Emmett's heart that he hadn't truly felt since before he'd decided Daphne was better off without him.

He fell back to his knees, the rips of his jeans belonging nowhere near Daphne's neatly vacuumed carpet. He knew he had to go soon, Freddy wasn't known for his patience and Bay Kennish had agreed to meet him after. He could go, but he couldn't resist staying here a moment longer, his hand rubbing soothing circles into the tense spots of Daphne's neck, relishing in her scent of safety and innocence. This was his life, his home; right here where Daphne's heart laid.

He was fooling himself if he thought he'd ever forgotten. That he ever _could_ forget.

His heart, his peace of mind, his very soul would forever belong in his first home with the first love of his life.

* * *

Sometimes, when she felt like pretending everything between Emmett and she was the same as always, Daphne found herself scanning the crowded halls of Carlton for Emmett's familiar face. He'd grown taller, again, over the summer and Daphne hadn't seen much of him since. The self-demeaning part of her subconscious wondered if she hadn't been just fooling herself the entire time in thinking someone as quirky, as confident as the swaggering Emmett Bledsoe would ever hang out with Daphne Vasquez, self-proclaimed basketball star, in the first place. But then she would rmemeber that time they'd set fire to Mr. Smith's lawn gnome, that time Emmett stayed up holding Daphne's hand after they'd watched Psycho and Daphne refused to go back to sleep, and those times Daphne had spent the night at Emmett's house distracting him from the fact that his parents were fighting right outside.

Those were real; they hadn't been faked or made up. Embellished through age and desired glory but real nonetheless. Daphne held onto those memories anytime her better judgement tried to tell her she'd never been cool enough to earn someone like Emmett in her life.

And now that Emmett appeared hell-bent on destroying himself and his mom and dad didn't appear to notice, Daphne scanned the halls every day for the familiar, short, red hair. It comforted her just enough to see a glimpse of it at the far end of the hall as he made out with some unknown temporary pilot project girl or gave handshakes that were nothing like the secret ones they'd made and forgotten four years ago. It settled the shaky, unsettled feeling in her gut to reason that, despite the rings around his eyes, the weight Emmett had lost and every rumor she'd heard about Emmett's new friends, at least he was there, where Daphne was able to reassure that he was still breathing, still okay.

So the Tuesday in February, Daphne scanned the hall and found no sign of Emmett but was able to single out every single one of his shitty friends, Daphne stopped dead in her tracks, blood running cold. She didn't think twice before grabbing her backpack and racing down the hall and out of the side doors. And yeah, she'd had a chemistry test and a History assessment that she'd spent four hours blind studying for the night before, but all bets were off when it came to Emmett. Always had been and always would be.

She walked the five blocks to Emmett's house, contemplating all the bad things that could've happened. Regina had always claimed her book collections exacerbated her fears into things of Stephen King novels but right now she didn't feel like she was overreacting. She didn't know what Emmett had been taking and if she'd heard right, it could be anything form pixie sticks to speed. She tried to apply the symptoms of drug use she'd read about on those pamphlets in the counselor's office, ironically Emmett's mother's office, but it just didn't feel right comparing Emmett to those pitiable men and women staring gloomily up at her through their weary eyes. And it wasn't like Daphne could have even gone to ask Melody about where her son was because she had left for what the secretary said was a vacation and without Emmett too. He was a little worse for wear, but he was still Emmett and for now Daphne could make herself believe he'd just been taken over by the Pod People for a while.

She quietly roamed the front yard, going through the bushes until she found the old, brush-covered metal lunchbox. Ignoring the onslaught of nostalgia, Daphne pulled out the spare key and replaced the box. Their system had gone both ways but, more often than not, Emmett had preferred to come to Daphne's house. That and he always seemed tenser than ever when Cameron was home. The times Daphne had come over had always coincided with Emmett's parents both being home. Daphne asked him about it once, and only once.

They'd been lying perpendicular to each other on Emmett's floor, Daphne's head on his stomach. "I just don't get it; do you think your parents hate me?" When Emmett didn't answer, she turned her head to see Emmett studying his ceiling with a rueful expression. "Emmett?"

Emmett suddenly noticed her and said, "What?" She pouted playfully and repeated her question.

"Of course not, Daphne. It's impossible to hate someone like you." He lifted Daphne's head from his lap and rolled over to one side, head in hand. "I just want you to see the good parts of me and they don't exist when Cameron's around."

Daphne had nodded but tried again. "But you said Cameron isn't all bad. He seems really nice, Emmett."

"He can be when he wants to. When he's not home." Then he'd crawled on top of Daphne, quickening her heartrate a little, 'Drop It' glare in place as he reached for their stash of candy under his bed.

Now, Daphne climbed the steps to Emmett's room, all the while listening for sounds of anything, at all. She cautiously crept towards the cracked door of Emmett's room, opening it unaware of what she'd find.

Emmett's headache and compound hangover couldn't compete with the ache of seeing Daphne's terrified expression at his doorway. He had an idea how bad he looked, if the puffiness of his right eye and sore ribs were anything to go by. And maybe six months ago, he would've been milking the perks of it for all it was worth, but now, seeing the blatant pain and unchanging fear in Daphne's eyes, the eyes he'd chosen to remember on the nights Bay wasn't enough, seeing them now, live, hurried him into blind reassurances.

"Hey, buddy. What're you doing here?" His neck was too sore to eye the clock on his nightstand. He didn't know how long he'd been sleeping but he was pretty sure school was still in. Unless it was a Saturday, but he wasn't that out of it, was he? He gestured to his bed and tried to smile, ignoring the sting of his split lip. "Hey, come sit with me. I'm okay, really." He was vaguely reminded of some memory of a smaller Daphne in the doorway refusing to enter his room. He couldn't recall the details, but he remembered Daphne had been right to stay away.

Daphne bit her lip against the sting in her eyes and took cautious steps toward the bruised boy, _man_ , she corrected. Sitting carefully on the edge near Emmett's waist, she felt unsure of what to do with her hands. Deciding finally to hold Emmett's badly bruised hand, Daphne took a few minutes to say something neutral, but instead blurted out, "What the hell happened to you?"

Emmett looked up from where he'd been admiring the contrast of their grasp. It felt like familiar warmth, but he couldn't remember ever holding Daphne's hand before. It seemed silly now; if he'd never felt the urge, he'd probably been staring at her neck, hips, or ass like vermin he was to ever do something as gentle as hold her hand. His throat threatened to pull through his throat, but he swallowed it down. "I got in a fight. Ironically, it was about pain killers." He squeezed Daphne's hand and tried for a sarcastic smirk. Just like old times. if he could pretend, Daphne should be able to. "Guess, I lost."

Daphne smiled back but it didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you did." They sat there for a while, Daphne appraising Emmet's sore, tense muscles and Emmett praying for the increased release of the sweet white pills in his jean pockets. Rather than admit open defeat, he sent Daphne downstairs for aspirin, trusting Daphne wouldn't say no if she wanted to.

He'd crouched his way across his room, moaning painfully all the while. He was on his knees, cold and sore on the hardwood floor in front of his bulletin-board with his week-old jeans in one hand and white pills in the other when a stab of shame came over him. He looked up to see the now hundreds of photos of Daphne and her family and his old friends looking down at him. Tears began to well in his eyes. He was suffering in pain over a few pills he'd only started taking to ignore the pain he'd caused. To ignore the fact that he'd never be able to go back to being that kid that helped Regina make cookies and watched Adrianna singing cheerful songs in her nightgown. He'd never be respectable again, never be dependable again, and never be trusted with Daphne again. And it hurt the most that he knew they were right not to trust him.

When he was high he could see everything the way he wished it had been. His parents were smiling and happy, holding him tight to their chests. The Vasquez's waved from their house and invited him over to dinner every Tuesday and Friday. Daphne was always nearby, arms wide open and protective around his middle. When he was high he could see Sheila, tall as Daphne and living as a beautiful bridge between his deaf family and community and the rest of the world.

When he was high nothing bad ever happened and nothing was his fault.

He shoved the pills down his throat, not bothering to count and crawled back to bed. He was halfway there when Daphne came back. She hurried over, set the glass of water and aspirin bottle on the nightstand before helping Emmett onto the mattress. Though she hadn't touched any other the agonizing bruised spots of his body, Daphne's hands brought wetness again to Emmett's eyes. They seemed to dance across his skin, bringing only softness and not pain and Emmett wanted to scream that Daphne was being too nice to him. That he didn't deserve it.

He settled back into his pillows carefully, eyeing as Daphne dumped two pills into her hand and handed Emmett the glass of water. It still blew his mind how innocent Daphne had remained. So innocent, untainted in the face of the many people Emmett had chosen to be tainted by. Daphne hadn't asked for this; she hadn't asked for Emmett.

He took his pills obediently and grasped for Daphne's hand again, giving into the sweet pull of release. "Stay with me?" he pleaded, his signs nearly incomprehensible. He didn't see an answer, if Daphne even gave one, but he fell away to the feel of an un-calloused hand at his neck.

Daphne spent the first part of the night watching muted television in Emmett's room. For the first time she could remember, she felt anger towards Emmett's mother. Where had she been when Emmett had gotten beaten up by one of his 'friends'? Where had she been when Emmett had somehow made it home in this state? Why wasn't she here now? What kind of vacation could she be on that she would abandon her only son who was clearly slipping away?

She fell asleep reluctantly next to Emmett's still form, counting the months it had been since she'd been welcome to do so.

She awoke with a start, a glance at the clock on Emmett's nightstand telling her it was two in the morning. Emmett looked too still in the light flowing in from the street outside. His skin was cold to the touch and, worried, Daphne tried to shake him awake. At the lack of response, she started to panic. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't go to Regina, she'd make it worse. None of her friends knew or even wanted to know about the things Emmett and his "friends" did. In the end, she decided it would be safe to call Adrianna. If she told her not to, she wouldn't tell Regina. Dialing the number to her apartment, she kept stealing glances at Emmett's relaxed expression.

"Grandma, hey," her voice cracked as she signed into the video phone. "Uh, it's Daphne. I... I need your advice."

"Daphne, what's wrong? What happened? This is Emmett's number, are you at his home?" The interpreter signed calmly but Daphne knew there would be worry in Adrianna's voice. For once, the thought comforted her. She could be the worried one and Daphne could be the calm one, for once. She concentrated on how she was going to phrase it and how to keep it from sounding like Emmett had done something wrong because Daphne still wasn't sure he had.

"It's Emmett. He took some pills, I don't know how many or what they were. I thought he was sleeping but he's been out for the past seven hours and I'm afraid to leave him alone," she signed quickly and out in frustration, "Grandma, help me."

The interpreter was still for a while before he continued signing. "Daphne, you know the smart thing would be to call for help and call his parents. You knew that before you called me, didn't you?" she added maternally.

Brushing a shaky hand across Emmett's cheek and swallowing thickly, Daphne replied out loud, "Yeah, I did. But, Grandma, Melody would never let it go. And what if he's fine and I'm making a big deal out of nothing?"

"Daphne, it isn't nothing if you're this worried."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks, Grandma."

"Daphne, if you need me…" she left it open, knowing Daphne knew she'd always be there for her.

"Yeah." She hung up and sat there for a moment longer, debating her options again, trying to wake Emmett again before calling for an ambulance and Melody a few moments later. She didn't leave Emmett's side until she saw the patrol car in the driveway along with the flashing lights of an ambulance. She'd figured that since she'd just gotten Emmett into the most trouble he'd ever been in, the least she could do was keep her promise.

She didn't sleep that night.

* * *

It was a few weeks before Emmett cornered Daphne after school, the rings around his eyes more pronounced and morose than ever. For a moment, Daphne wondered if Emmett was planning on hitting her. It was a strange thought because they'd playfully fought with each other but never with the intention of hurting each other. Instead, Emmett gestured towards a small corner of the hall and stood in front of her silent as he peeked at Daphne through his thickened lashes before saying, "I'm sorry."

At that, Daphne frowned, confused. "For what? _I_ got you in trouble. I should be apologizing." She froze when Emmett eyed her, anger lighting his gaze.

"I shouldn't have made you stay with me like that." He lowered his gaze and shifted from one foot to the other. "I scared you, I scared myself. I mean, _fuck_ , I even scared Melody." He turned and slid down the opposite wall, staring at the holes in the knees of his jeans. Every so often, he would shiver with severe chills.

Daphne stood for a moment before reluctantly sliding down the wall behind him. The soles of their shoes met across the hallway. Dirty, holey against paint stained Converse and pristinely white Adidas. Daphne had never seen Emmett refer to his mother by her first name like he did with his dad. "What'd she do?"

"She's volunteering me to ride on ambulance calls with paramedics. I guess she thinks scaring me straight will make me change my wicked ways. I'd be pissed, but it's so _parental_ , so unlike her." He didn't mention how Melody had given him that look again, like she was once again mourning the loss of the child she'd never have. He may have neglected to mention that when he'd started choking on his own vomit, he considered not fighting it, or how his mother had first taken one look at him, turned around and left the hospital room. To her credit, she'd seen it all before.

"It's impossible to take that many pills by accident," Daphne said.

"I know." They sat together for a while until Emmett sighed and got to his feet slowly, still a little sore. "See you, Daphne."

Daphne hurried to her feet as anxiety seeped through her bones. "Emmett?" she called, stopping the smaller boy before he went down the hall. "The system still works."

Emmett gave a small sliver of a grin before starting down the hall again.

Daphne wasn't sure Emmett would take her up on her offer so when she awoke to the sounds of rubber treads on her window sill, weeks later, her first instinct told him to reach for the bat underneath her bed. Seeing the gleam of red hair reflecting from the streetlights, Daphne relaxed. Emmett was eying her nervously, looking vulnerable for the first time Daphne could remember.

"Hey," he tried, standing awkwardly in the center of Daphne's room.

Daphne stood and went to her closet for the extra mattress, blankets and pillows Regina had bought just for Emmett. She bit back a laugh at the Batman blanket Emmett had brought over years ago peeking out from the back of her closet. She could still remember the two leaving the lamp on as he would tell her ghost stories. She'd been afraid to sleep that night but Emmett had slept peacefully, chocolate on the corner of his mouth.

They set up the palate on the floor and Daphne clamed back into bed. And hours later, Emmett's breathing had transitioned into deep, relaxed breaths but Daphne couldn't relax. She couldn't sleep. That boy on her bedroom floor appeared to be slumbering he looked just the same weeks ago. What if Emmett had taken too many pills again? What if he fell asleep and never woke up again? What if he died while Daphne was asleep, just a few feet away and useless?

Daphne gave up two hours in and climbed down and laid next to Emmett's sleeping form. She watched Emmett's muscular chest -when did he change so much? -rise and fall like a mantra until, an hour before she had to get ready for school, she fell into an unsatisfying sleep.

This pattern continued for the next four weeks: Daphne getting fitful sleep except on the few weekends Emmett didn't appear in her window. They'd begun with the notion that they would take turns sleeping on the floor and in the bed but after a few too many nights found one of them falling painfully to the floor to sleep next to other or painful elbows clacking together in the night as one of them climbed into the bed, they abandoned the pretense of space.

Daphne tried a few times to understand why Emmett couldn't stand sleeping in his own bed. She tried round about methods like asking how his parents were and if Melody had been attentive or if Cameron had been around lately, but Emmett promptly yanked the covers up and turned over. She tried blatantly asking why Emmett's house and become unbearable but that was met with stillness that last through the night and left both of them restless. That was the worst, Daphne hadn't been sleeping anyway but she'd willingly suffered the insomnia because at least Emmett made it through the night. She told herself not knowing was okay, that it was worth it if Emmett felt safe enough o sleep without those pills.

After a few weeks of watching Daphne steadily fade into a weary stranger that slept in class and came tardy to more than one period, Emmett realized with a jolt that Daphne hadn't been sleeping. And when he really thought back to the nights since he'd been climbing into Daphne's bedroom unknown to Regina down the hall, he'd always fallen asleep first. He couldn't recall a time when Daphne left his side, so he couldn't imagine what she did if she wasn't sleeping beside Emmett. And that thought sent a warm shock down south before he reasoned he was probably making too much out of it.

He decided not to mention it. If Daphne wanted him to know, she would've told him. Daphne had always been an open book, unable to hide emotions if she wanted to. So, Emmett ignored the ever-present circles under Daphne's eyes and told himself he was giving Daphne her privacy, all the while knowing he was choosing to be blissfully selfish.

Neither of them mentioned their present arrangement outside or even inside Daphne's bedroom. Emmett still avoided Daphne at school now even more as he watched Daphne turn into the kid _he_ used to be, sitting in the back of the classroom to sneak a few naps into her Calculus class. Unlike Emmett's teachers of the past, Daphne got away with it because it was so out of character. And it was: Emmett Bledsoe was now awake long enough to get A's and Daphne Vasquez was sleeping her way to an unfortunate B average.

This dance of avoidance and denial went on until the start of April and the night that Emmett drunkenly climbed through Daphne's window and fell on top of Daphne's prized basketball trophy. Startled from her afternoon nap that lasted a few hours longer than she'd planned, Daphne rose from her bed and searched her room frantically until she spotted Emmett's tangled for on her carpet.

Standing, Daphne marched over and helped Emmett up, now officially too tired and too pissed to let it slide again. "Emmett, what's wrong? Why can't you go home?"

Emmett refused to lift his head after seeing that, the smell of alcohol wafting up towards Daphne. A few moments of silence and Daphne crossed her arms, not backing down. Emmett looked up defiantly, crossing his arms as well until the sheer nostalgia reached his drunken sense and he burst into a fit of drunken giggles, taking Daphne down with him. They shook to and tried to quiet their laughter but it was too much for Daphne's exhausted mind and Emmett just needed the lightness of a pure guiltless moment.

And after the laughter ceased Emmett sank down onto the edge of the bed. Looking up with glassy, he finally asked, "Daphne, why haven't you been sleeping?"

Daphne took a few steps closer. "I've been sleeping fine." When Emmett's eyebrow raised, she tried again. "Really." But Emmett looked her in the eyes, disbelief apparent.

"You haven't, and I can tell." He gave a quick grin. "When you sleep, you turn into an octopus, using your legs and arms to squeeze me in your sleep until I'm out of breath." He snorted as Daphne threw a pillow at him and missed. She sat down next to Emmett and wrapped her hands around her knees. "So?"

Eventually, Daphne sighed and gave in. "I keep thinking that if I fall asleep, if I let myself fall asleep next to you…then you'll die." She glanced at Emmett for his reaction, expecting him to laugh at her and tell her to stop being a baby. "It's stupid, I know."

Instead Emmett bit his lip, upset visibly. "No it's not." After all, he'd figured as much. He suddenly couldn't remember a time he'd been around Daphne and not felt guilty. "It's not stupid." He settled on trying to a figure a way to get Daphne to sleep. He pulled Daphne's arms from around her knees, pushing her back on the comforter. The shorter girl frowned at him but obeyed and gradually relaxed against the pillows behind her head.

"Daphne, I'm not going to die."

Daphne grimaced and visibly tensed before Emmett's eyes. "How do I know that?"

Emmett lay beside her, anxiously reaching a hand out onto Daphne's chest. He thought that was the way it had been done to him, he wasn't sure though. "Sheila used to ask me to promise a lot when she got sick. And she'd believe everything I told her. But she'd ask me to promise that I wouldn't die when I really wanted to ask _her_ to promise me. But she trusted me because I told her to."

Daphne nodded solemnly, eyes lowering until they closed completely. Emmett knew what Daphne looked like when she was asleep and he knew he had more work to do. So he tickled her chin to have her look at him again. "I can't promise not to die; I can't promise that but I can promise you that I won't try to." Daphne tensed against him and started to open her mouth so Emmett covered it with his free hand. "I won't try to, okay? Not when I'm with you, if that makes you feel better."

Daphne shook her head, trying and failing to pull Emmett's hand away from her mouth. "Not ever." Breath caught in Emmett's throat as he felt wetness dropping into his hand. Removing it, he gently wiped at Daphne's eyes until the tears were gone.

"Daphne—" he choked.

"Promise." To Emmett's surprise, she held out the pinky of her left hand and waited patiently for Emmett to link his own together.

"Fine. I promise," he said tiredly, relaxing by Daphne's side. It was dangerous lying here beside Daphne. In so many ways, Daphne was the only thing Emmett had never attempted to have, but he did all the same. He'd done the unthinkable in forcing Daphne to stay with him after he'd taken those pills, knowing he'd taken too many. Even before that, he was the reason Daphne's mom didn't see her daughter in the same way anymore. And somehow Daphne still cared for him, still wanted the best for him. Emmett felt ashamed that he'd ever felt the need to test it.

"Say it." Daphne commanded petulantly but Emmett didn't call her on it.

"I promise; not ever." But by the looks of it, Daphne had already fallen asleep. Deep enough not to wake when Emmett pressed a firm hand to her heart and fell asleep to the beat of it.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Regina entered Daphne's room one morning concerned that Daphne was sleeping in a half-hour too long. She'd heard from the school that Daphne's grades had been slipping and that she'd been looking more and more exhausted every day, but she'd just assumed Daphne was experiencing anxiety about college. She usually knocked, knowing well what teenage girls did in the privacy of their rooms was something she didn't need to witness, but that morning she'd been too tired.

"Daphne, you're going be late for school if you don't get your butt out of bed," she practically said to herself out of habit She yawned and flipped the light switch on the wall to the left. Turning back to face Daphne's bed, her breath caught. Snoring with a tanned forearm draped across her daughter, Emmett Bledsoe appeared entirely too much like he belonged there, shirtless and in boxers. Like he'd been sleeping there for a while and suddenly Daphne's fatigue became a separate issue entirely.

Her daughter, who was fully clothed in pajamas (Regina sighed in relief) rolled over to face opposite from Emmett and bundle in the small pocket of warmth between the two of them and unknowingly covered Emmett's face with top of the bed sheet. "C'mere," Emmett mumbled. Emmett managed to move the sheet out of the way and pulled Daphne closer to his chest all without waking.

Regina decided it would be best to leave quietly, call in sick for Daphne and handle this later.

* * *

The space between them had all but vanished completely. The tight quarters, the sleeping practically on top of each other every night had changed their relationship in a way neither of them wanted to acknowledge. Instead, they'd made an unspoken transition into snapping at each other whenever the other did something that was now deemed unacceptable.

Suddenly, it wasn't okay for Emmett to climb into Daphne's window, strip off his clothes and climb into bed practically naked next to Daphne. Daphne had bitched at him for twenty minutes that night, even using the energy to get up and turn on the night lamp, all while keeping her knees hitched high against her chest. And not it never ceased to piss Emmett of that Daphne had no qualms about licking her fingers obscenely after eating fried chicken when Emmett was over for dinner. Emmett refused to speak to Daphne about it until the offender had had enough and smacked Emmett in the head, prompting him to chew Daphne out about her bad table manners.

The worst incident occurred afte rDaphen had come into her room after her shower, soaking wet with her towel around her chest, barely reaching the middle of her thigh searing for a clean pair of leggings. Somewhere along the line, they had begun to wear one another shirts, wearing whatever was clean or smelled the least. Little did Daphne know, Emmett actually got a sense of satisfaction whenever Daphne wore his clothes and had been hiding her t-shirts for weeks.

Emmett's hand halted mid motion, moan cut off at the sound of Daphne's return. Sitting up quickly, caught red-handed, he tried for a casual greeting. "Hey, Daphne. How's it going? Shower cut off early this morning?"

Towel tucked tightly under her arm, Daphne was speechless and unsure if she was angry or…something not angry. "Yeah, I Have to get to school early today," she explained thought she hadn't moved from where she was standing. Emmett was flushed and still panting and Daphne really wished she wasn't the one practically naked at the moment.

After they spent the next minute staring awkwardly at each other, Emmett got out of bed and stalked over to the dresser. "You might want to consider knocking next time." He shook off a laugh at the glare on Daphne's face in the mirror. Anger they could deal with, the awkwardness was not.

"It's my room!" Daphne yelled, pleased with the startled shade of Emmett's bare shoulders.

Emmett spun around, "Yeah, well that was before we started sleeping together, wasn't it?" He shouted, causing Daphne's and her eyes to widen with realization.

Sleeping together was exactly what they were doing. They never spoke about it outside of Daphne's bedroom, choosing to pretend it was normal. Surprising to both of them, Regina still hadn't noticed. Whenever Daphne felt guilty about lying to her, she'd justify it by saying it wasn't just for her benefit, but Emmett's too. It was a shitty excuse because while Emmett hadn't exactly quit cold turkey, he was nowhere as far gone as he'd been.

They were literally sleeping together but saying it out loud gave it different, dirty connotations neither of them really wanted to think about.

Grimacing, Emmett pushed past Daphne, bare shoulders brushing against hot, wet skin. Ignoring how badly he wanted to press her entire body against his, just to see what she would do. He took a lot longer in the shower than Daphne had and for once Daphne was thankful for it.

That night, Emmett and Daphne went to sleep on opposite ends of the bed in frustration. They woke up in the middle of the night tangled tightly together with Emmett's limbs trapping Daphne against his chest and Daphne's long locks tickling Emmett's face. They eyed each other quietly in the moonlight and Emmett knew exactly what Daphne wanted to say but he didn't express it though he meant it just as much. Saying it out loud would make it an issue, something they'd have to stop to fix.

They were too dependent on this; too dependent on each other for this closeness, but suddenly it wasn't enough for either of them.

* * *

Emmett gets Daphne drunk for the third time in his life at Chris Donner's party. Daphne had begged Emmett not to make her go; everybody knew Chris and Liam were friends. She hadn't spoken to him since junior year other than to apologize for Emmett's actions, blaming Emmett's temper. Which wasn't quite a lie because even the ten-minute exchange had Emmett glaring daggers at Liam from down the crowded hall.

But Emmett wouldn't take no for an answer. He shoved Daphne into her denim jacket and on to his motorcycle. They both entered Chris's house, Emmett's eyes scanning the room for beer and Chris's dealer. And he was so focused on having those little treasures in his hands ad down his throat, he didn't question Daphne's absence. He was halfway to gone when the fear and panic set in. He hadn't seen Daphne in an hour and studying the party in the thoroughly trashed living room, Daphne was nowhere to be found.

Hurrying unsteadily to his wobbly legs, Emmett stumbled over to Simone and Bay, his tongue fuzzy and thick. "Have you seen, Daphne" he signed. They looked confused and laughed. "Daphne," he demanded out loud, making both girl's eyes go wide as saucers.

After a short pause, Simone pointed towards the back hallway with a piercing glare for his attitude. He'd been there enough time to know the bedrooms were in that direction. Fumbling his way through the crowd and spilling someone's beer enough to ear a sticky shower and a bruised eye for his trouble, Emmett made his way to the back. He bangs angrily on the first few doors he sees, only growing more livid and terrified with each face that wasn't Daphne. He kept going, continuing to bang on doors until the last one opened on its own.

Liam had thrown his shirt to the carpeted floor on his left, returning to the warm space between Daphne's legs. He'd been reproachful when the younger girl had approached him earlier, mindful that Bledsoe couldn't be too far away. He hadn't returned to Carlton after his year of ASL class completed so he never got the chance to see Daphne again after his junior year. But, alone, Daphne had seemed harmless enough. He fetched her a beer, they sat down, which led to talking that led to kissing that led to touching heavy with the intention of moving this elsewhere. This was how he'd gotten Daphne alone, on a bed in a dark room without her watchdog eyeing his every move.

It wasn't like Liam didn't understand where Emmett was coming from. He'd been able to see how special Daphne was from day one. It was something in the way she managed to be terribly kind, sweet, and talented without realizing it. And in the way she empathized with just about anyone out of sheer habit. He wasn't stupid, he knew Daphne's kind of innocence was something to protect. That hadn't stopped him from pushing a little further than he'd meant to that night in his car. He'd been almost thankful when Daphne put an end to it and when Bledsoe found him at school not long after and shoved him into a locker; he'd felt like he deserved it.

But Daphne had grown into a woman somewhere along the line. She was taller, slimmer, body curvier, and voice huskier. She'd attracted Liam all over again and some part of him felt like it was okay to play with _this_ Daphne. This Daphne didn't feel so inherently Emmett's which made this, if possible, even sweeter.

Pressing his hips harder into Daphne's, Liam bit at the feverish skin of the woman's throat, sharper still at the small whimper that met his ears. His hips struttered forward and their moans seemed to blend into one drawn out sound. Daphne's chest shook as she laughed, her voice still sweet as ever. She smiled sweetly and laid her head back, studying Liam expectantly with a forbidden challenge that sent a burning rush of blood through his entire body.

Liam lowered his blushing face into Daphne's neck, embarassed but cheerful. He pecked her on the lips and raised his head so she could read his lips. "You're killing me," he answered Daphne's laugh with a playful nip at the skin beneath her chin. Soothing, it felt with his tongue, he helped Daphne begin unbuttoning her shirt, their hips hopelessly locked together. He made a move to pull it off completely when Daphne's eyes drifted to his face again, pulling Liam's heart to his throat and oh, he knew this was what Emmett had fought for.

"Come on," Daphne breathed, biting her lip until all Liam could hear was the sound of their heavy breathing. His hand slithered lower until he heard the stuttered gasp of breath from the younger woman and she broke the silence with a hushed, "fuck." Time seemed to stand still as Liam's skilled fingers found the zipper of Daphne's jeans and they both sucked in an air of anticipation when the door opened, and light spilled over their bodies.

Emmett took the sign in with bated breath, anger fading into hurt. Liam, topless and on his way to losing the rest of his clothes, on top of Daphne, slightly tipsy in her unbuttoned shirt, pink bra holding heaving breasts. The light from the hall trickled in, causing Daphne to squint up at Emmett form the space underneath Liam's forearm.

"Emmett? What's going on?" she asked, her hand,the one that Emmett remembered grasping tightly with his own, stil gracefully planted on Liam's sharp hip bone. Closing his eyes, Emmett couldn't forget how plump and wet Daphne's lips were or the obvious red marks on her neck and chest. Or the sight of Liam's hands on Daphne where they never belonged. Everything that told him Daphne wanted this pretty fucking bad.

 _Well, she could've just said_ , Emmett thought, sobering a bit as he attempted to march into the scene. How long had Daphne been in here? How long had they been -he couldn't stop the repeating mantra in his mind that Daphne was _his_. The bit marks on Daphne's neck, where his hand had lulled her to medicated sleep so many years ago, where he'd shed tears over his father's departure just a month ago. They scarred Daphne's skin, they changed her, and he wanted to cry but he was too angry. That bastard had tried to claim what was _his._

He frowned. "I'm so high I can't feel my feet. I need to go home." Emmett watched with a semi-satisfied smirk on his face as Daphne got to her feet and started to button her shirt again. Emmett stumbled closer, all but slamming against Daphne. "Fuck it; you don't need clothes where you're going."

Daphne shot an apologetic look in Ruth's direction, maneuvering Emmett towards the door carefully. She had to be the sober one here. The voice of reason. "Let's go, Emmett." Emmett pressed his head into Daphne's bare chest.

"Daphne, what is it with you and Liam?" He gave a maniacal giggle. "He's fucked everyone." Daphne sighed and yanked Emmett roughly out of the room. _This can only get worse,_ she thought.

"Let's go, Emmett," she commanded calmly as she practically carried Emmett down the crowded hallway, apologizing when he knocked into someone or spilled someone's drink. It was a miracle when she got to the foyer before Daphne realized that they didn't have a way to get out of here. She reasoned that if she had to sit and wait for Liam to pass her on his way out, she'd have to kill herself. Well maybe she'd kill Emmett first and then herself. Yeah, that would make a hell of a lot more sense.

She was still contemplating thoughts of homicide when Bay Kennish, a girl she vaguely knew Emmett spent time with, sat down on the steps beside them and asked, "Do you need a ride? Emmett looks pretty out of it."

Daphne nodded politely, ignoring Emmett's warm breath invading the material of her shirt. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."

Emmett nodded, inhaling the scent of Daphne's perfume. He sighed into Daphne's stomach. "Take me home, Daphne."

Diane nodded, starting back towards the center of the party. "Let me just tell Silvia I'm leaving."

Emmett wouldn't shut up. "Take me home and pretend I'm Liam." He began trailing light, teasing touches along Daphne's neck and Daphne felt like she was being punished. Emmett wasn't playing fair, he was being a dick but this was worse than usual. This wasn't funny, it just hurt.

Emmett leaned back against Daphne's chest the whole time they waited for Diane to give them a ride. He never stopped running his hands up and down Daphne's body, even attempting to undress her. Daphne wanted to tell him to stop but she knew she had to pick her battles at the risk of causing a scene.

In Emmett's eyes, Daphne was being petty; he was just happy to have her back, right here underneath his palms and safely his again. He couldn't understand why Daphne wouldn't just do what he wanted like always. She used to; she used to do whatever Emmett wanted her to do even when she didn't want to. He had to figure out how to make Daphne his again.

In the backseat, Emmett began to talk again, head buried in Daphne' lap. "Daphne, Daphne… I'm pretty sure Little Emmett is a lot bigger than Little Liam. Wanna see?" His hands traveled to his crotch and Daphne felt like dying in mortification. Bay seemed to find it amusing but Daphne didn't and Emmett was trying to prove his sincerity. "Come on, compare 'em."

Daphne slapped his hands away and focused on the moving pictures outside the car windows. She knew if she tried to speak, she would yell so she didn't. Eventually Emmett gave up trying to work her zipper and began taunting Daphne again. "Daphne, Daphne, I love you so much." When Daphne refused to respond, Emmett's face crumpled, and he tossed his head to the side. "You don't love me, anymore."

Sighing, Daphne took a firmer hold of Emmett's head and absently stroked his cheek with her thumb, closing Emmett's glassy eyes with her fingertips. "I love you just as much as always," she muttered bitterly and signed it when Emmett looked up at her in confusion and panic. The truth of it somehow made it worse.

At this Emmett began shaking his head furiously, eyes wide open and accusing. "No, you don't! Or you wouldn't have been back there with him. You weren't going to let him fuck you, right, Daphne?" And Daphne shot an anxious look at their driver before remembering that she and Emmett were in their own world right now. Bay could never understand what they were saying. "Right?" Emmett blinked a few times and tried to sit up, pulling away from Daphne.

"I don't know." And she didn't, not really anyway.

Emmett glared at her, suddenly furious. "Oh, you know Daphne. You knew the second you went back there with him. Did you even think about how I would feel? Did you care?" Emmett's face was crestfallen. "You could've just said –"

"Emmett. Shut up. For me?" Daphne tried, exhausted and still regretting allowing Emmett to drag her to the party in the first place. She could've been home preparing for her finals but instead she'd been dragged into what had to be one of the most horrid experiences of her life. She'd been humiliated in front of Liam and Bay and she still had to figure out how to sneak Emmett into her house.

"You want me to shut up." Emmett moved closer and nosed along Daphne's jawline. He drw his tongue against the tense columns of Daphne's neck, pulling a low breathy and satisfaction to Emmett's drug addled mind. "I want to take you home and fuck you." He reached his hand into Daphne's hair and pulled her head close, their lips millimeters apart.

Daphne bit her lip trying to look anywhere but at Emmett's shiny wet mouth. She swallowed thickly and tried to hold Emmett's hands down, ignoring the way every bone in her body screamed at her to let go. That she could let Emmett take whatever he wanted because Daphne had wanted this since she'd known how. Her skin was sensitive to the touch and she was suffocating in the space between Emmett's lips and her

Emmett let go of Daphne and pressed his body against the door, thigh warm and hard against Daphne's. "It's like you're _right_ there," he said. His hand lined the invisible roads from the vulnerable exposed skin of his neck, down he span of his chest, and into the forbidden territory between his spread legs. "You're not _with_ me, but I…you're so close it fucking _hurts_." He found Daphne's hand in the darkened backseat and held it to his demanding erection. He didn't appear to notice the panic on his best friend's face in his haste to prove his point. "It's you, Daphne. It's only been you."

Daphne's breath hitched as she struggled to pull her hand away, pressing harder against Emmett's groin in the struggle, his eyes closing, mouth open in exhilaration shocking Daphne into motionless submission. Lifting his hips to Daphne's palm, the movement of Emmett's chest, a sign Daphne figured was him about to make a noise, had Daphne sending a panicked glance toward Bay. Distancing herself, she tried signing with one hand, "I can't."

"Daphne –" Emmett knew her better than anyone and he knew just what he could say to get her to go along with this. Even in their temporary separation he hadn't lost that ability, but he found that he didn't want to use it now. He didn't want to force Daphne into this, not when he needed it this much.

"I think I want to." Daphne admitted regretfully.

Emmett turned his head, eyes meeting Daphne's with the sorrow of ages. "I know." He rested his head back on the headrest, eyes closing of their own accord. He released the vice grip on Daphne's wrist but somehow, she still felt shackled.

That night, Daphne let Emmett have full reign of her bed, ignoring the irritating voice in her head telling her to claim what she wanted. From the small mattress on the floor, she saw the movement of the sheets, never taking a moment to rest. She imagined Emmett was up there, ready to touch his skin to hers, softly whispering her name to her neck, she felt like she'd made the wrong choice. Her bedsprings moved, and Daphne could just imagine what Emmett looked like when he came, if it was anything like she'd thought of before. Emmett was up there on _her_ bed, on _her_ sheets where she'd touched herself for years. She chewed her lip till it almost bled, pressing her palm against the throbbing ache between her legs.

A pale forearm reached down from the top of the bed and touched her hair. Daphne looked up to see Emmett leaning over the side, face flushed. "Daphne, it hurts so bad. _Please._ " The look on his face shook the last of Daphne's resolve. The black of his gaze lured Daphne into bed next to him, rational thought fading completely.

She tried to gracefully make her way across Emmett's writhing body, but Emmett was having none of it. It was as if he was trying to devour Daphne. Nails bit into the soft skin of her hips where Emmet drew her flush against his own rising body and teeth drawn across the tender flesh of her throat. It was the most beautiful torture and Emmett was more in control than Daphne thought he could be.

"We shouldn't," Daphne supplied, but she signed this with indecision. Instead, Emmett rolled them over onto their sides and Daphne threw her head back into the crook of Emmett's elbow as calloused finger pads traced the well-worn path into her jeans, pulling open the buttons of her shirt -no _Emmett's_ shirt. The sheer fact sent a flush of heat through Emmett's body. He hadn't needed to prove that Daphne was his; she was wearing his clothes and Daphne had gone home with him, not Liam. His palm halted over Daphne's heart as the rhythm seemed to echo, thudding under his hand. Breath for breath, beat for beat, they rose and fell together.

The tiny vibration of the zipper opening had Daphne throwing her head back in anticipation. She felt Emmett's lip at her throat, mouthing words she couldn't understand. She panted as his fingers found the little bundle of nerves that sent a shock of pleasure through her.

Daphne had tossed her head, trying to speak but the dance of nerve endings allowed her to do nothing more than whimper into Emmett's shoulder. She felt him slide his fingers inside of her and her breath left her body. Daphne sighed and knew it wouldn't be long until Emmett got exactly what he wanted. Emmett laughed and tilted Daphne's head back, sucking dark marks into the flesh he found there. He pumped his fingers faster into her, feeling as Daphne's body started to give over to release.

And Daphne came with a scream that seemed to tear her throat apart but Emmett kept stroking her clit even as he realized Daphne was almost in tears, sensitive to the touch. Rolling his own hips against Daphne's with desperation in his rhythm and tone, he painted hidden messages along Daphne's body. He spelled 'mine' across Daphne' right shoulder, bit it into her left hip and growled it into Daphne's ear as he gave a final thrust and came all over the both of them.

Even in their exhaustion their hands found each other in the dark.

* * *

The strangest part about the change in Emmett and Daphne's relationship was how much it hadn't changed. Daphne wasn't sure what she had been expecting; walking to classes together, holding hands in the hallways, introducing each other to friends. The honest truth was that ever since Emmett had committed himself to being a better friend, they'd done all of those things anyway, before this even started. In fact, Silvia Salander had even asked her how long they'd been together a week before Carl's party.

Emmett had been a foot away which made the whole conversation just more awkward. Daphne knew before she answered that Emmett would cause a scene for his enjoyment and Daphne's mortification. "Are we what?"

She didn't appear the least bit flustered and Daphne usually appreciated her boldness. "Are you two sleeping together? Intimate?" Her eager blue eyes searched Daphne's face for _any_ sign of untruthfulness. She wasn't going to law school without training her investigative skills as much as possible. Sometimes, her friends found it annoying, but Daphne found it endearing. When she wasn't using her skills on Daphne, of course.

Daphne gaped, trying to figure out how to answer it. At the time, it was true. They _were_ sleeping together, at least four times a week because once Daphne felt comforted enough to sleep with Emmett there, for at least four hours. Emmett started to spend nights at home. He'd been reluctant at first, worried that if he wasn't around Daphne constantly, she would realize how much of a burden Emmett's company really was. Fortunately, enough time spent with Daphne after he'd back off confirmed his suspicions were total crap. Daphne still loved having him around after all these years and Emmett didn't want to test it.

"Uhh…technically –" Daphne had started before Emmett came up behind her, pulling Daphne into her chest, chin on top of her head.

"Technically, we're lovers," Emmett said with a cocky grin, signing in front of Daphne's body. "My cuddle bunny is just shy about admitting it." He kissed Daphne hard on the cheek and Daphne wished she could be angry at the amusement in Emmett's eyes. "Isn't that right?"

Silvia didn't seem the least bit shaken. "Well Daphne, you could've at least told me. I thought we were friends." She turned around and stalked down the hallway to her locker.

Daphne spun around, obviously upset. "Did you have to do that? Do you have to piss off everyone else I know?"

Emmett shook his head seriously. "No. It's a reoccurring battle of decision and one that I fight every day." Then he'd leaned against the door behind him and held his hand out. Daphne glance dup and down the hallway for a minute before taking it reluctantly. The light warmth of it and steady reassurance was quickly becoming familiar even if he had started out on unfortunate terms. Sometimes, Daphne would find Emmett's hand on her arm, or on her back, pushing her through the halls or in her own just a comfort, a sign that he was still there. Still alive, still with Daphne, and he wasn't planning on leaving.

At the time, she'd found herself seeking out Silvia at the end of the hall and swallowing a smile at the approving nod she gave her.

Now that they'd begun…whatever this was, the most surprising part was how much of it wasn't surprising. She was pondering this when she felt a familiar palm pushing her forward from her lower back. "Come on, Daphne. We have to get home today. Your mom is making brownies and she finally likes me enough again to let me lick the bowl." Emmett stole a quick kiss before rushing past Daphne down the hallway and out the door.

Daphne yelled, "Hey! You said I could this time!" knowing she would never get a response back on that. She raced after him through the hall. "Emmett!"

* * *

Emmett tells Daphne his worst secret, the last of the series, when they were lying on their backs in Daphne's bed, spent with exhaustion. Daphne was hallway to sleep and Emmett was fading fast, delirious and easy comfort in Daphne's presence. The flannel pajamas buttoned across Daphne's chest, clean and pristine until they turned to turn Emmett's stomach. He sat up, away from Daphne's image, relaxed and rested against the crumpled sheets. It wasn't enough to know in the pit of his heart that he hadn't done anything wrong this time. That Daphne didn't have a reason to leave him, not that way at least.

Emmett's stomach gave a sickening, painful lurch and he left the room at a run to the bathroom. He leaned for the toilet in time to puke everything he'd eaten at dinner earlier with the Vasquez's. He banged his forehead painfully against the porcelain rim of the toilet seat, the pain not enough to take him away from that memory.

Daphne followed him in, seconds into it, and rested her hands gently on his shoulders. Even that touch wasn't enough to stop him from retching again. Finally, when he was sure everything was out, Emmett pushed Daphne away as gently as possible and sat back against the tub. He pulled a knee up to his chest, a small barrier between him and Daphne.

They sat in total stillness, Daphne with shame and Emmett with revelation. "I wasn't sad." He took a deep breath, relief not yet present. "When she died. I don't remember crying. I don't think I really knew she died until Cameron brought me home after the funeral." And he was once again thankful that Daphne knew exactly what he was talking about without an explanation.

Daphne nodded. "You were six." She wanted to reach across the space, touch Emmett in some way to tell him how sorry she was but she knew it would make things worse. Emmett didn't like to talk about Sheila. It was a rare occasion that he even mentioned her, as if she was a part of Emmett's past life.

"Yeah," Emmett scoffed, vision blurring until he clenched his hands into fists. Theys at for a while, Daphne resting the urge to cross the distance between them and Emmett desperate to keep it there. Daphne looked up when she saw Emmett angrily wipe his eyes raw.

"Emmett," she started, giving up on maintaining the space but Emmett shoved at her chest hard, forcing Daphne backwards into the base of the sink behind her head. Rubbing at the growing knot on the back of her head, Daphne stared at him with apology.

Emmett glared at her and ignored the tears trailing down his cheeks. "I missed her. I _miss_ her." His forehead lowered to his knee for a second as he gathered his thoughts. "That day was one of the _best_ days of my life." He nodded with conviction, glancing to see if Daphne was still watching. "Mom and dad took us out for ice cream, we went to the park, we ate dessert for dinner," he trailed off, eyes staring off lost in memory. "I remember thinking was weird because I _knew_ then she was sick but I was just happy she didn't have to stay at the hospital anymore -away from me. And I would tell her always to come home and beg my parents to let her come home. And she did. And we had the best time. She came to my room like she always did when she got scared and she crawled under the sheets wearing her favorite pink flannel pajamas to lie down on my chest." Emmett placed his hand over his heart.

Daphne shook her head, knowing how the story ended. "She was dead when I woke up. I didn't know it at first. I kept poking her, thinking she was playing a game. I only realized when my mom came bursting into the room looking for her. Cameron looked at us like it was our fault and my mom wouldn't touch me after she died. I never felt sad, Daphne, I only felt sorry. Sorry that I killed her." Glassy eyes found Daphne's for confirmation.

"No, you didn't." Daphne swallowed thickly, pain to the back of her head nothing compared to the ache in her throat. She hated the most that Emmett missed out on what she'd been given. She never had to question whether or not her mom and grandmother loved her, whether or not they'd leave her all alone. It wasn't fair because if Daphne had to pick anyone in the world that deserved it the most, it would be Emmett. He'd never asked for the affection Daphne had, hadn't known how to and Daphne knew it. That was the reason she'd steadily tried to give it whenever she thought Emmett was none the wiser.

It was another fifteen minutes before Emmett nodded and crawled forward into Daphne's embrace. They sat there for the remainder of the night, eyes closed and minds clear. Eventually, Daphne fell asleep and Emmett managed to carry her into the bedroom without waking her all the while realizing that if Sheila had never died, if his parents hadn't started fighting, he would've never gotten this close to Daphne because he wouldn't have needed to. He spent the night wondering if, given the choice, he'd choose having his family back over Daphne. He fell asleep unsure of his answer.

The next morning while Emmett was in the shower Daphne got rid of every pair of flannel pajamas she owned.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Along with the change in Emmett and Daphne's relationship came a new variety of firsts, each more awkward and uncomfortable than the last. There was the first time Regina almost walked in on them. To their credit, they hadn't gone further than harmless kissing.

Emmett had been teasing Daphne all day because earlier that morning, he'd found out Travis Barnes had been trying to find the right time to ask Daphne out to a movie. At first, he was pissed at himself for not seeing his infatuation with Daphne sooner. It was obvious in the way he constantly touched her arm, laughed out loud at all of her lame science jokes or always offered to carry her things for her in the hallways. Also, the frown he had specially reserved for Emmett's appearance burned hot enough to give the sun a run for its money.

Emmett playfully pushed Daphne through her bedroom door, laughing. "I mean seriously Daphne, if you're going to leave me for someone else, at least make sure he's not selectively blind. There's no possible way he hasn't seen Liam Lupo."

Which was quite true? After Daphne dragged Emmett home that night, Bay had obviously phoned everyone in her address book to recap about what just happened to Liam. When they'd come to school the following Monday, all eyes were on them, including a few of the teachers'. Clearly the pilot project kids from Buckner Hall had spread the news to the rest of Carlton. The increased attention, the tactless grins and judgmental glares made Daphne freeze on the spot, blocking the entrance and struggling to breathe. Panicked didn't cover half of the terror running through her blood as her mind kept reeling through the many ways this wouldn't end well. Her teachers would stop praising her, her other friends would stop hanging out with her and then her mom would find out and she didn't know what she would do. She bit her lip, textbooks in hand trembling as she was stuck in one spot, unable to move.

Seeing this, Emmett decided to ham it up, yanking Daphne's hand from her side and shoving his way through the crowd. Once they were a safe distance away, Emmett let go of Daphne's hand and conveniently studied the various flyers on the cork announcement board while Daphne caught her breath. She never mentioned it again, but she began insisting they start using side entrances.

Now, Daphne was caught between flattered and sympathetic because Emmett would never let this go and he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't tease Travis to his face. Despite her better judgement, Daphne let herself be left over to her bed and lied down, welcoming Emmett's weight on top of her. She knew she should at least try to get Emmett to go easy on Travis, but she'd waited all day long to get Emmett's mouth under hers so when she finally did, Travis was pushed far away from her mind. Besides, she reasoned, if Emmett's mouth was otherwise occupied, he couldn't talk.

Arms reached up to pull Emmett's hips to hers and she swallowed the edge of Emmett's laugh. Emmett had never gotten over how soft yet aggressive Daphne's lips were and he showed his appreciation with his hands. Clawing at Daphne's jacket, he pressed himself as deeply into Daphne as he could, and he'd been contemplating the consequences of abandoning their agreement to slow things down when the movement under Daphne's door caught his attention.

At first, Emmett considered not alerting Daphne. Regina was bound to find out sometime and he had a lurking suspicion that Daphne had already told Adrianna; she wasn't known for keeping her mouth shut. He'd been thinking about not stopping and letting them get caught like this, together when Daphne pressed the softest, barest kiss to the space behind his ear. It pulled at his heart like only Daphne could and he gently pushed Daphne away because it wouldn't be fair, and he knew it. It was always like his, every time he was inches away from doing something selfish enough to hurt Daphne, the selfless girl would do something or say something that made it impossible to follow through. Emmett hadn't been able to skip school, pick fights with Cameron or Melody, or drive off on his motorcycle and hide for the day because a tiny, Daphne-like voice in the back of his head told him it was wrong. And honestly, Emmett would be annoyed with Daphne for ruining his fun if the jerk knew she was doing it.

"Daphne, in about forty-five seconds, your mom's going to walk through that door," he finally said with a roll of his eyes. They hurried to a sitting position, clothes rumpled and expressions obviously frazzled. Didn't matter anyway because Regina only stopped outside of Daphne's door long enough to ring the "doorbell" which flashed a bright light whenever the button was pushed to say "hi" in Morse. She hadn't even noticed Emmett was there. He scoffed at the thought that he could've been actively had his tongue in the magical spot between Daphne's legs and Regina wouldn't have suspected a thing.

The first time they almost got caught was also the first time Emmett realized he was willing to stop being a selfish prick forever if Daphne was around to make sure he did.

* * *

The first time Daphne admitted to loving Emmett, it was the to the oddest person of all. Emmett had pressured Daphne into coming home with him because Melody wouldn't be home that night. The request came out more awkward and forced than ever because alone had different connotations now. Realizing this, Emmett tried to make light of it.

"Come on, Daphne. It's not like I'm going to get you pregnant." That had the opposite effect on Daphne than he thought. She looked stricken like he'd said a bad word. He gave a twinge of a smile that was almost enough to pull a real one from Daphne. She followed Emmett home anyway, remembering the last time she'd spent the night at Emmett's house two weeks ago. They'd watched Deafenstein _again_ , Emmett had his horrid Frankenstein impression and after he'd fallen asleep on the carpet, Daphne cleaned up their mess and covered him with a nearby blanket.

Dismissing her nerves, Daphne laughed along with whatever Emmett was babbling about.

They spent the afternoon talking about who would defeat who in a fight between Superman and Spiderman and whether or not Aquaman was even relevant to the argument, in between bouts of kissing. It was strange how normal it felt and when Daphne mentioned it out loud during Emmett's Batman rant, he'd barely hesitated to say, "Daphne, it's _us_. Of course, it's normal," before continuing like he'd never stopped.

Eventually, the sugar from Emmett's dinner of Coke and Skittles wore off and the debater fell asleep in the mess of his comforter and pillows. Daphne bit back the urge to either kiss him or draw a mustache on his face, or both. In the end, she settled on returning the few dishes they'd used to the kitchen.

"Wow, you clean? Are you sure you're friends with Emmett?" Daphne halted, and spun around almost immediately causing her to spill the rest of her soda on the linoleum floor. She had passed Melody Bledsoe without even noticing her.

Hurrying to apologies, Daphne dropped to her knees with a washcloth and started cleaning the mess. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Bledsoe. I didn't know you'd be home," she said, watching as Emmett's mom started to help her.

"It's alright, Daphne. It's just soda." When the mess was gone, Daphne set the towel on the counter and the dishes in the sink. She supposed she'd inherited her stringent cleaning habits from her grandmother, who had a tendency to clean when she was nervous. She started to run dishwater, avoiding eye contact because she'd heard from Emmett that Melody could read a person like a book. She was afraid that Melody would be able to tell what they'd been doing for the past few weeks just by looking at her or watching the way her left eye twitched a centimeter or some other trick the counselor knew.

"I didn't know I'd be home either. Not that my knuckle-head son speaks to me that much anyway," Melody signed and admitted, leaning back in a table chair. Her fingers tapped the edge of a chipped "World's Greatest Mom" mug as she observed Daphne's frenetic movements. "How have you been? Have you applied to colleges yet?"

Daphne nodded, having almost forgotten about the colleges she applied to two months back. It felt like a lifetime ago, like a story from a time in a parallel universe where Emmett had never existed. "Yeah, a few. I actually applied to University of Missouri first, but I don't know if I'm…if my marks are good enough to get in." Especially since she'd only started staying awake in class long enough to bring her average back to some semblance of normalcy.

Melody nodded, impressed. "I know they are; I've seen your transcript. And your mother speaks very highly of you anytime I run into her." She paused, glancing briefly at the doorway to the hall and then back at Daphne. Almost uncomfortable, "Do you know if Emmett applied anywhere? What he wants to do? He ignored my request to audit him."

Emmett mentioned several times when he was younger how he wanted to become a world-famous photographer. Someone who could travel to places far from Missouri and sit in the total silence of the world and just capture it. But since then, Daphne couldn't remember him explicitly explaining what he wanted to do with his life. Like he said, he was "letting it play out on its own."

"You know, I actually don't have a clue. It never came up when we -when we're together. Maybe photography…he's good at it," Daphne said before Melody interrupted, good-natured smirk on her face.

"I don't imagine it would." The plate in Daphne's hand slipped out of her soapy grasp, sending suds in the air and across her shirt. Deciding to test the waters, Daphne turned directly to face the counselor. Melody eyed Daphne inquisitively leaving no doubt that she knew exactly what Emmett and she had been doing as of late. She appeared unsurprised about it. "I was young once, too, Daphne."

Daphne finally stopped cleaning and met Melody's gaze, silently cursing Emmett's ability to sleep during some of the most stressful events of her life. "How did you know?"

"It's not as obvious as you think. I'm trained to recognize these things. For one, you wouldn't look me right in the eye and almost broke that plate, very smooth." Daphne suddenly saw the resemblance between the two Beldsoes. "Well, that and when I came home, you two had the door wide open and weren't exactly discreet about what you were doing there."

Daphne swallowed thickly, mortified. She scratched at the back of her neck before returning to the dishes. Melody didn't look mad, but Daphne wasn't good at detecting emotions through expressions the way Emmett was. She settled on an apology, at least for leaving the door open. "We're sorry."

Melody chuckled and took a sip from her mug. "Well maybe you are. Emmett's not." Daphne nodded, smiling.

"You're probably right," she agreed.

"Any idiot can see how much you care about him," Melody stated, studying Daphne for confirmation and she must've found it because she nodded, and they sat in content stillness for a moment before Melody surprised her.

"I hope this works out. I really do." She stood from the table and brought her mug over to the sink. "He doesn't come home angry like he used to. Hell, he actually comes home now. The other day, we actually held a conversation without yelling at each other and I think a lot of that has to do with you."

Daphne gaped, unsure of the proper response. Her mother had drilled manners into her but nothing she'd taught her covered what tos ay when your sort-of-boyfriend's mother complimented you on your good influence. Melody smiled awkwardly before petting Daphne on the shoulder and starting to leave the room. The unspoken "thank you" rang louder than ever in Daphne's ears.

The first time Daphne admitted how she felt about Emmett was also the first time their relationship had been truly discovered by anyone.

* * *

The first time Emmett lied to Daphne to protect their relationship occurred soon after the first time Daphne had ever talked back to a teacher. It was on Emmett's behalf, of course, because everything Daphne had ever done that could be viewed as remotely cool happened because of Emmett.

And yeah, Emmett could admit that he wasn't the best student in the universe. Quite the opposite to some of the unfortunate teachers that crossed his path and left his parents with a trail of stellar exam scores and the worst behavior reports. It was an unwritten rule than any teacher blessed enough to have Emmett Bledsoe in their classroom required a year supply of Aspirin and maybe a prescription for Xanax.

Still, it wasn't fair for Mrs. Ridley to fail him for the semester without giving him a chance to make up for the days he'd missed. Granted, he hadn't spent those days, seventeen to be exact, out doing community service as Mrs. Ridley so kindly pointed out.

"To be fair, I was providing a type of service to a member of the community," Emmett noted, avoiding the accusatory look in Daphne's eyes. They'd only begun sitting next to each other in class again, to the jealousy of Travis and Silvia. Sure, at first Daphne had been annoyed at the way Emmett mocked her when she raised her hand to answer questions, but it was the only period they had together. Plus, the only time Daphne had casually decided to sit next to Travis instead, Emmett had talked his way into Daphne's Physics class and made dirty comments under the table every time Mr. Nelley said "penetrate" or "hardened."

Ms. Ridley shook her head and Daphne watched her go through a familiar debate in her mind; whether or not the argument with Emmett was really worth it. Deciding it was, she stalked over to where Emmett reclined in his wooden desk. "I'm teaching you a valuable lesson, Mr. Bledsoe. You can't take shortcuts in life. You can't just decide to show up when you want and expect to earn what other work so hard for."

Emmett opened his mouth, prepared to say something snarky and make Ms. Ridley follow through on her threat. Daphne's quickly put her hands over Emmett's to lower them, cutting off his retort. "Ms. Ridley, maybe we can work something out? Emmett's sorry," Daphne said, though the glare on the fuming teenager clearly belied her words. "I'm sure we can settle this with extra tutorials or –"

Daphne saw Emmett's mouth shape the words "fuck that." And Daphne made the mistake of widening her eyes in shock at Emmett's blatant display of disrespect.

"What?" Ms. Ridley asked.

"I said 'fuck that'."

Sighing and resigning himself to the punishment indefinite to Emmett's record and by extension her own, Daphne tried to keep from screaming. She could feel the keening sympathy bleeding from Travis and Silvia, the amusement from the rest of the kids in the class and wondered which angered her more. It was only as Ms. Ridley took a deep breath, gearing up for the rant that Daphne realized who she was really angry with.

Emmett had never taken the initiative to work hard. At anything as far back as Daphne could remember. When she was younger, she'd been jealous of the fact that Emmett could get everything he'd wanted without having to try. It was just The Tornado but everything they'd ever done together. Playing basketball, it was always Emmett who managed to get the last ball through the hoop. Sneaking off to set fireworks in their favorite abandoned field, it was Daphne that got caught and Emmett that went free when they'd been sighted by a nearby officer past curfew. Statewide assesments, Daphne paid intense attention to everything her teachers taught, everything they gave out to help them prepare. Emmett finished the test in one of the four allotted hours and had time to sleep through the rest. Months later, Emmett managed to achieve a score high enough to rival Daphne's and was well-rested enough to gloat.

Emmett never worked hard for anything because he'd never had to. It used to make Daphne angry but now, it was the basis for his argument. It wasn't fair for Emmett to succeed at everyting so easily, but it wasn't fair to hold a grudge against him for it. Plus, Ms. Ridley was someone Daphne could be pissed at, mostly because the gods had never put much stock in what she had to say.

"Sir, you're failing him because he hasn't been here as many days as everyone else." Daphne started, swallowing and nervously straightening her cardigan as she gained the attention of everyone in the room. "The only reason the school year is scheduled for the state required number of days is to give us enough time to learn the required material. As you can see for yourself, Emmett did that. He has the test scores to prove it—"

"And some pretty wicked drawings of the Thundercats., Emmett cut in. Daphne quieted him with a quick glance and for once Emmett was content to obey. Not because he was truly worried about his grades, he didn't plan on going to college anyway, not for a few years anyway. He was content to sit quietly and let Daphne work because in the seven years he'd known Daphne Vasquez, never once had she argued against a teacher. Not even that fateful day when she'd been given a loser like Emmett as a partner for their joint project.

"He passed every test, turned in every essay and even finished the joint semester project without a partner. When you really think about it, you're failing him for finishing all of your assignments with less instruction than the rest of us." Daphne intentionally avoided the heat she felt in Travis's accusatory stare. "I think if you overlook the usual requirement, just once, it'll serve as a testament to your excellent teaching methods, sir."

Ms. Ridley barely bit out a stern, "What?"

"That a student passed your class with such a high average and a lowered attendance rate. It shows that your methods work well enough your students don't require the ordinary time allotment as those with average teachers." Daphne finished, and Emmett had to admit, he was a little convinced. He was mostly proud and dreading the two hours before he'd be allowed to show it.

Nodding slightly, Ms. Ridley's glare lessened into an expression of contemplation. After a moment of tense calm, she finally responded. "I see what you mean, Ms. Vasquez. I suppose it would be a shame to fail Mr. Bledsoe for the year and defeat his chance to graduate." The glare returned for a moment as the bell rang. No one moved, waiting for the conclusion. "You will be serving at least four tutorial sessions to make up for some of the days you missed, won't you, Mr. Bledsoe?" It didn't sound at all like a suggestion.

Emmett nodded insistently. "Yes! Yes of course! I'll even bring Daphne with me. Shall we have a picnic? I'll bring the pizza." Rolling her eyes, Ms. Ridley dismissed her students.

The class appeared to spring into action like wind-up monkeys as everyone started to leave the classroom. Emmett pulled Daphne by her hand out of the room, noting that Travis Barnes wasn't far behind them. Brilliant, he could use this opportunity to get rid of him.

Barely waiting until they were out of sight in a dark corridor, Emmett pressed Daphne into a brick wall and took her lower lip between his teeth. Sliding his tongue into Daphne's mouth, he allowed himself to enjoy the kiss for a moment before monitoring the hallway. Littering Daphne's face and neck with kisses, Emmett barely watched Daphne's hands as Daphne tried to say. "I don't think we should do this now."

Ignoring her, Emmett cut of her words by wrapping her arms around his waist and stopping her mouth with his tongue. He kissed away Daphne's objections and had begun contemplating whether or not Daphne would skip the rest of the day with him when a movement caught his eye. Emmett processed that the figure was just about the right height. _Yahtzee_ , he celebrated mentally. Slowly separating, Emmett first noted the regretful wince on Daphne's face before spinning around to the newcomer.

Travis Barnes stood, books held loosely in his grasp as he stared on, shocked. A sarcastic voice in Emmett's head wanted to ask if he wanted a turn but he knew Daphne would never forgive him if he did. Still, Travis had to come to terms with it sooner or later. It had gotten infuriating every time Emmett found him fawning over everything Daphne said, touching her arm, suggesting they go out to movies or exhibits. Anytime Emmett had made the smallest effort to be more than friendly towards Daphne, either she blatantly ignored it, or Daphne shrugged him off.

If Daphne was reluctant to share their relationship with the world and Silvia refused to inform the blind boy about them, he had to find out on his own, with a little help from Emmett of course. Now, he watched as Travis shook his head with disbelief and, started walking away.

Silvia came onto the scene. Taking one measured look from where Emmett and Daphne were melted together at the waist and Travis had his back to them; she sighed and pulled the boy into her arms. She made a jerky motion for them to leave that Emmett was grateful for. He hadn't planned how to handle this part.

They rounded the corner as Daphne deflated from her previous high and Emmett couldn't help but be a little annoyed at how quickly Daphne gave way to guilt. It was a bit ridiculous to be honest. "I didn't know he was there, did you?"

Emmett bit his lip and shook his head. It wasn't a lie by his standards; how was he supposed to know how fast Travis had followed them? In his opinion, he might seriously consider going out for the track team. _In fact, if he joined_ , Emmett reasoned, _he'd have something to do and stop hanging on my girlfriend so much_. Once again, the Daphne-like voice in the back of his head admonished him for the sentiment.

Daphne continued, unknowingly reaching for Emmett's hand. "We were becoming good friends. I hope this doesn't ruin it," she remarked, squeezing Emmett's hand tighter and Emmett actually started to feel the guilt. _Damn it, Daphne._

The first time Daphne stood up to a teacher was also the first time Emmett lied to Daphne to protect their relationship from the horrible part of Emmett that would stop at nothing to keep Daphne by his side.

* * *

The first fight after "it" started was more volatile than any other fight they'd ever had. Daphne' couldn't even be sure why it began. They were walking to Daphne's home from school, Daphne's face buried in a college brochure for University of Missouri. Their counselors had been handing out college information all week which had been enough to put Emmett on edge. Though she'd never explicitly asked Emmett what he was planning on doing after high school, she knew college wasn't at the top of his list.

That day, he'd taken one look at the pamphlet in Daphne's hand before snarling, "Wow, University of Missouri. Interesting choice." He snatched it out of Daphne's lax hands. "Making plans already, I see."

Frowning, Daphne asked, "What are you talking about?"

Reading at the top of his lungs and catching the attention of everyone on the street at his strange accent. "University of Missouri offers one of the highest levels of—"

"Quit it!" She tried to grab it from Emmett's hands and almost lost her balance as Emmett shoved her away.

"'We offer a variety of courses for—" Emmett belted out as he danced away from Daphne's swinging arms.

"What are you doing?" Daphne pleaded, "People are staring—"

Emmett scoffed and tossed the brochure on the sidewalk. "So what? I'm sure you won't even remember this next year when you're…" he stopped suddenly realizing what he'd been about to say.

"When I'm what?" Emmett lowered his gaze guiltily, walking ahead of Daphne. "When I'm what, Emmett?" She hurried forward and grabbed Emmett's forearm to keep him from getting away. She hated how everything between them always had to be a cat and mouse game. That or Emmett was constantly pushing her away when she got too close.

Soft hands held Emmett up by his chin as Daphne made it apparent she wouldn't let go without an explanation. "When you're moving on without me," Emmett finally admitted, dropping to sit in the wagon some neighbor kid had left in the driveway.

"University of Missouri, Daphne. That's more than a bike ride away." Daphne sat down carefully in the wagon next to him.

"Yeah. I know." Daphne smiled self-consciously. "I applied, and I haven't gotten anything back yet. I don't even know if I'll even get in."

Emmett disagreed and took Daphne's hand. He signed after he started to make odd shapes with Daphne's fingers. "You are. You know you are." He laughed suddenly, startling Daphne. "You'll get in and I'll stay here with Melody and your parents. Maybe I'll never leave."

When Daphne broke eye contact, he continued, "When you get in, I'll be happy for you. Really." He tried for a smile, but it came out more like a grimace and Daphne eyed him cynically. "Well not _really_. Anyway, maybe I'll travel the world. Go to Brazil, Spain, China… anywhere. Run as far as I can."

"Run where?" Daphne asked, giving a polite nod to the elderly neighbors regarding them oddly. And maybe it was a little out of the ordinary for two teenagers to hold hands in a wagon. Scratch that, it was very out of the ordinary.

"Nowhere… _everywhere_ ; it doesn't matter. I just want to be the first to leave for once in my life," he admitted, letting go of Daphne's hand. He stood awkwardly to his feet, stumbling a little as the wagon started to roll down the driveway. He helped Daphne out as they started towards his home.

Daphne picked up the University of Missouri brochure and handed it to Emmett and he took it reluctantly. "You could do something about it. You could grow up and try to get into college. You're definitely smart enough." It was an empty suggestion. Daphne knew Emmett as well as anyone could, and she knew it had never been in the cards for Emmett to go to college, he'd never wanted to. The only people that didn't know that were Emmett's parents and her own mother.

Instead of confirming Daphne's suspicions, Emmett nodded and started turning the pamphlet into an airplane. They took turns throwing it down the street as they walked to Daphne's house. Each time it flew a little bit further away, they drifted apart going after it.

The first fight after 'it' started was the second time Emmett realized Daphne had every intention of leaving him when the time came. It was also the first time he realized he could be the one to leave first and never look back.

* * *

The acceptance came in a large, ordinary white envelope and honestly Daphne felt it should've appeared more destructive as it actively ruined everything she'd gained and confirmed Emmett's suspicions. She couldn't even share the joy of knowing that she was good enough, she was smart enough, she was dedicated enough to get in. The second the prideful smile appeared, Emmett came bursting through the door, going on about something hilarious he'd seen on an animal show with an alpaca or a llama, he wasn't sure which. Daphne threw the envelope into her desk drawer, shuffled some papers and spun back around with a curious look on her face. At first Emmett seemed a bit suspicious before dismissing it for an excited laugh and holding out his hand.

Daphne grinned, an air of sadness in it before taking Emmett's hand and walking out the door, away from his dream. "Llamas?"

The hundredth time Daphne took Emmett's hand was the first time she realized her future came with a price she wasn't sure she could pay.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The second time Emmett said "I love you" to Daphne, it was as unexpected as their first kiss. They'd been lying on Emmett's bedroom floor watching _Deafenstiein_ , again. Daphne was pondering the fact that the deaf Frankenstein had never failed to be present during the most bemusing and wonderfully unforeseen moments of her life. He was like a green guardian angel watching over her, making sure she didn't die loveless and alone.

She'd been considering using the downtime to tell Emmett about the ton of mail she'd been hiding in her desk drawer, especially the ones with University of Missouri letter head. Part of her was surprised Emmett hadn't found them yet seeing as he was the nosiest person Daphne had ever met, surpassing even her mother. She'd been trying to force the words out of her mouth, in any particular order really because she'd given up on speaking eloquently when it came to Emmett Bledsoe, when the aforementioned leaned over and kissed her on the nose.

"Daphne, you sexy babe, you haven't heard a word I said."

Daphne didn't even deny it. "Right. Whatever you just said is most likely a bad idea, probably illegal and I will not approve," she added habitually.

Emmett bit back a grin and continued stubbornly. "Probably but it'll be fun so are you in or not?"

"In for what?" she asked finally.

"Travelling the world for a year after we graduate. We could go anywhere we wanted. Portugal, Thailand, Italy, Canada, South Dakota… anywhere. And I mean, you never heard back from University of Missouri right? What would you be missing?" He eyed Daphne quizzically and Daphne felt the guilt set in a little deeper, paining the inside of her stomach.

She chose not to answer directly. "I don't know why you ask. I'll say 'no' but when the time comes, you'll drag me along anyway. I'll complain but, in the end,, I'll find out that I either overreacted or was too judgmental, regardless of whether or not we end up in jail—"

"Daphne—"

"And then you'll gloat about it for the next few weeks and I'll be forced to—"

Emmett was laughing now, crawling closer to Daphne as he tried to finish her verbose dialogue. "Daphne!"

"And then my mom will give me that look when I've done something wrong like when I was eleven and you convinced me I could parachute down from the roof with a garbage bag and a helmet—" Emmett cut off Daphne's trip down memory lane with another kiss.

A contagious beaming smile on his face, Emmett said, "I fucking love you, you know that?" Then he tackled Daphne to the floor, hands attacking the buttons on his shirt and they didn't talk after that.

* * *

Silvia thought it was strange that whenever Daphne walked into a room with strangers, holding Emmett's hand, she was brave enough to do so whenever she was certain the contents of the room didn't include her mother or anyone that reported back to her mother, she never introduced Emmett as her boyfriend. Sure, Silvia always got irrationally angry whenever her girlfriends started referring to themselves and their boyfriends with singular pronouns, using "we" and "our" over and over again as if they'd somehow morphed into one annoying syphilis machine. She would've seriously downsized her time with Daphne if that happened but that she didn't _claim_ Emmett was hers when they went out was confusing to her. The need for labels, qualifications, and vocabulary were essential to her because she couldn't stand it when things were out of order. Daphne would introduce her…her Emmett as just that, "Emmett", "This is Emmett", as if they were just friends that happened to hold hands when crossing the street for safety. Though, to be honest, Daphne's mother had done a real number on her in terms of following safety precautions to the letter. She never went anywhere without antibacterial soap and a first-aid kit.

So, their situation confused her and that was the end of it, she thought until Freddy Simmon's party when she realized it bothered her. And even after, she wasn't sure if she was bothered for Emmett or for Daphne.

Daphne had never felt the inclination to touch anyone other than Emmett since Liam Lupo. Silvia knew that, Emmett definitely knew that and so when Travis had come to her for advice on Daphne, she'd been tempted to ask her if there was a different Daphne Vasquez running around. It was visible, tentative even, the way that Daphne reacted when Emmett was around. No matter if she'd been frightened, anxious or upset, her body reacted the same way as if Emmett was a catalyst. She would straighten up, lean imperceptibly towards the boy and her eyes would brighten as if a shade was lifted. Her smile would grow bigger, her nervous tremors would calm and when Emmett was around, Daphne wasn't afraid of anything. At first, Silvia had been jealous, furiously jade with how effortless it was for Emmett to make Daphne feel so intensely, without having done anything at all. The reaction was visceral, involuntary and learned over time so subtly Daphne didn't even notice when it was happening. So, when Travis had asked Silvia if she thought it would be a good time to ask Daphne out to a movie, she'd been tempted to buy the poor boy a pair of glasses. As well as a can of pepper spray because Emmett could be awfully possessive.

When Silvia first met Daphne, they were both fourth-graders too shy to talk to anyone but one another. Silvia had been diagnosed with Meniere's disease and her parents had thought it would be good for her to know sign language early. Two new kids learning sign language for the first time in their lives. But Silvia was quickly gone before she even knew it in her parents attempt to restart their lives. It was only a few months before her freshman year of high school when her parents finalized their divorce and Silvia found herself returning to the school she'd grown sort of fond of. She'd met Daphne again when Daphne had been going through a tough transition period. At the time, it had been really hard to identify why, partly because the reason behind it hit close to home. After her parents divorced and she went back to living with her father in Missouri, she was hell-bent on working her ass off hard enough to get into a good college and never having to rely on her parents for anything. She was entirely aware that to her classmates, she would come off as a bitch, a hardworking bitch with no social life. One day, halfway through the first semester of Senior year, when she'd randomly lifted her head from her Biology text, she realized the only other person not asleep or skipping class was Daphne Vasquez, a tall, freckled blonde with a reputation even larger than her size. Determined to have at least one ally, she'd made it her mission to get close to her, at least on the off chance she needed Daphne's help with her coursework.

In the process of sidling up to Daphne for her eventual exploitation of her Biology prowess, she'd grown to love her, in an entirely platonic way of course. As mentioned before, she could feel a similar sentiment rolling off of Daphne like battle armor and she refused to identify what the feeling was. They began with choosing partners for class assignments, which turned into lunch dates and study dates at the library because both of them were the type to go the extra, _extra_ mile for an assignment. Before Mr. Cleever decided it wasn't fair for the two of them to be paried together, they set the bar for every project impossibly high, they'd become close enough to call each other friends and even if Daphne didn't think of her that way, Silvia labeled her her best friend.

It wasn't that hard for Daphne to worm her way into Silvia's life. Daphne was the nicest, most self-consciously generous teenager she had ever met. She showed up on time to meet her, never had to be asked for a hand when she struggled through the crowded hallways and she always seemed able to tell from the look on her face when she needed a shoulder to cry on. She went to bed some nights wondering if it was possible fate that caused her parents to divorce by way of a clerical error and decided to send her Daphne as a peace offering, a way of apologizing. Daphne seemed to be a blessing until she was walking with her to Physics one day and watched a tall red-headed boy, a bit talker than Daphne's height crashed squarely into Daphne with clearly no intention of apologizing.

Silvia had been raised never to back down from a bully and never to show her fear. She stood to her full height, which was a mere 5'4" compared to the teenagers' 5'7 and 5'9". She gave Daphne her books and faced the boy before her, his eyes red and puffy, obviously he was high on something and not life like her Aunt Belinda used to say. "Excuse you, apologize to my friend, please."

The boy stared her down, an expression of incredulity before they rose to the frozen girl behind her. His posture, if possible, shrunk lower and his reddened eyes softened. Blinking a few times, the boy dropped to his feet to pick up Daphne's books. He gingerly handed them to Silvia and gave a sheepish smile before starting off. As he passed Daphne, she saw him rub his chest gently, "I'm sorry, Daphne." But she got the feeling it went further than running into Daphne.

Sensing a deeper story, she spun around with curiosity that ended at the pained look on Daphne's face. She was biting her lip, a habit Silvia had tried to get her to break and clutching her texts tight to her chest. "Daphne? You okay?" And she winced inwardly, knowing full and well that Daphne wasn't. She tentatively pushed her towards their class because Daphne would've been more upset if she'd been late.

They stood inside the deserted room, five minutes to spare when Daphne started saying, "I know him. Used to know him, before you came back to Carlton." The look in her eyes, wide and haunted belief just how much that seemingly innocent confrontation had hurt. And she vaguely remembered Daphne being kind of close to the school counselor's kid, Emmett. He'd been a weird kid that kept to himself and as she thought back to it, she put the pieces together.

"That was…" she trailed off, noting the grimace on Daphne's face. "Whoa, I remember that kid was seriously screwed in the head, but I never thought he'd be into drugs." Daphne avoided her eyes and started to set her things down, fingering the cover of her Physics book as if she could still feel the phantom hand that held them. "Daphne, those kids are bad news. They've been suspended more times than you can count on all fingers and toes. Maybe it was for the best that you guys…" She stopped, sensing that for once, Daphne wasn't listening to her. At the remembering tilt to her head, she finally labeled what Daphne's armor had been made of.

In moving away from her short-lived home in California, she'd done the cliché precautions, taking everyone's numbers, pictures of all the friends she'd made. Moving back to Kansas City, she'd tried to start over, act like she would be okay without those friendships she'd worked so hard to gain. All the inside jokes, experiences that couldn't be relived, conversations that changed her life ambitions many times over. She'd tried to turn the longing, the nostalgia off like a mental switch and in the process, she'd closed herself off to the classmates she hadn't seen since she'd been in the eighth grade.

Seeing Daphne that day, frozen in the face of the boy she'd once loved, had never stopped loving, she realized why they'd been attracted to each other. A lonely soul can sense when there are others in its presence. Daphne had lost her best friend, maybe more and it was staring her straight in the face.

Now, other than those colorfully and undoubtedly exaggerated rumors about Liam Lupo, Daphne hadn't been involved with anyone other than Emmett. This fact had never surprised Silvia, she just added it to the list of boring facts about Daphne, but she was unsure as to whether it applied to Emmett's file. While she'd never seen him outright cheating on Daphne, she knew he didn't refrain from casual flirting with anyone that responded to it, and some that didn't. It was odd how easy it was for him to compliment a pretty girl on her smile while holding Daphne's hand. Silvia found it unsettling, but she'd grown somewhat used to it.

That is to say she'd grown used to Emmett's casual flirting when it was in moderation. Daphne had spent most of Freddie's party smoothing things over with Travis while simultaneously glaring daggers at the uninhibited junior girl hanging all over Emmett. When she'd finally grasped the boldness to press a chaste kiss to Emmett's lips, Daphne growled from the pit of her throat.

Silvia let out a barely hidden snicker from where she sat across from her on the couch. Underneath she was pissed on Daphne' behalf, on the outside she found it amusing that Daphne failed to see that Emmett was provoking her. Clover No-Brain may have been hanging all over Emmett, talking his ear off about whatever slutty thing she'd done that week, probably not even realizing he was deaf, but Emmett's eyes had never moved from where Daphne sat.

Finally, "Daphne, just go over there and drown the bitch in the punch bowl. You know you want to." Well, now that she thought about it, Daphne was too nice for something like that and she might have been projecting her thoughts onto her.

Daphne appeared to consider it for a moment before shaking her head and returning to her pout fest.

"I can't do that. Besides, it's probably not her fault." Daphne reasoned, and Silvia finally had enough of it. Grabbing the bowl of pretzels, she threw a handful at Daphne one by one, ignoring her protests.

"Stand up." When Daphne refused, she raised her eyebrows and exaggerated her signs. "Stand up!" Deciding it was for the best if she wanted to keep Silvia's hands off of the nearby empty beer cans, Daphne stood up. "Now go over there and do something. Your brooding is starting to get contagious."

Daphne objected, starting to sit down again. "I can't."

Silvia eyed her curiously, "Why not? He's _your_ … whatever, the point is: he came here with you." When Daphne refused to look her in the eye she continued. "And if you don't say something he'll be leaving with her, not you."

It was a while, through the end of the Kenzo's song playing at obscenely loud levels, before Daphne said anything. She looked up at Silvia, the guilt shining through the small smile permanently affixed to her face. She was reluctant and Silvia could tell she was worried about way more than that slut with her grubby paws all over Emmett. "Maybe he should," Daphne suggested.

"You can't mean that." Silvia exclaimed, leaning towards her. Next to her, Travis fell onto his side in his deep sleep unnoticed. "Daphne, what's wrong?" She was clearly upset but there was an undertone she recognized, a glint in her eyes she'd seen before.

She could do nothing other than watch the teens she'd grown so fond of locked eyes from opposite sides of a room teeming with merging teenage bodies, their faces blurred in contrast. All sound disappeared in their world, all movement went unnoticed as they breathed together, chests rising and falling simultaneously. Emmett's grin faltered and the corner of Daphne's mouth rose a little in satisfaction.

Daphne grabbed her coat. "Nothing. I'm going to go. Tell Emmett I'll be outside?"

Though Silvia wanted to protest, she nodded insistently and accepted Daphne's hug. Confused disappointment marred the confident smirk on Emmett's face across the room. He grinned and by the looks of it, told the young girl goodbye.

Silvia hadn't been wrong; Emmett had been testing Daphne and by the look on his face, he had failed. Meeting Emmett half way across the room, she realized why she'd recognized the expression but the realization only confused her more. If she'd interpreted correctly, Daphne appeared to be losing something. Or someone.

* * *

Daphne didn't think they were being obvious. Sure, to her mother's knowledge, it had been months since Emmett slept over. But they'd been best friends for years; it shouldn't have been weird for Emmett to start visiting again. And it also shouldn't have been that absurd to be in her room with the door closed.

None of this was out of character enough to warrant her mother bursting into her room demanding to know why her door was closed. And had Daphne's hand not been pressed slick and hot inside of Emmett's boxers, she might've had something intelligent to say to calm the situation. Maybe something other than "shit", which earned a sterner glare from her mother and an amused expression from Emmett.

Regina gaped in the doorway for a moment before straightening her top, clasping her hands together and responding. "Daphne, I will see you in the kitchen. Now." She turned to leave but spun around, a frustrated expression on her face. "And wash your hands."

Emmett covered a snort with a cough as Daphne covered her face and burrowed her head into the pillows. Her shoulders shook with nervous shivers but Emmett must've thought she was crying because he sobered from his laughing fit and started stroking her back gently. His hands were making vague windshield wiping motions that Daphne found oddly comforting for some reason.

Emmett pushed Daphne's shoulders gently to reveal her face, mouth comically downturned into a deep fown. "You'll be fine." Emmett assured confidently. After all, Regina wasn't at all like his parents and they wouldn't hold something like this over Daphne's head forever. And even if they tried, Daphne wasn't the type of person you could stay angry at. Daphne mumbled something into the pillow Emmett didn't catch. "What?"

"I said 'I'm so fucked'." Daphne amended

Emmett pulled Daphne's head from her pillow of self-pity. "I'm shocked; Daphne Vasquez just said a swear word. He tilted his head quizzically. "Quick, lick my face and tell me if it tastes like strawberry jam."

Trying not to grin, Daphne shook her head before complying. Emmett scrunched up his face at the wet feel of her tongue. "Nope. You still taste like macaroni and cheese."

Emmett frowned, stealing a quick kiss as Daphne's smile started to fall. In distraction, "Damn. I guess that means I'll never own the _Mystery Machine_. Or make human Shrinky-Dinks. This is quite an upset to my lifelong goals."

Daphne draped an arm across Emmett's chest, chin balancing above his heart. The insistent and rapid beating belied Emmett's nonchalant expression and Daphne realized with a start that in a way, her mom was just as much Emmett's as well. He cared what she thought, how she felt. Daphne went along with it. "I'll never get my stuffed monkey back either."

Emmett continued rubbing soothing circles into Daphne's back. "Hey, you told me it wasn't flammable. I proved you wrong, didn't I?"

"I didn't think you would set it on fire, Emmett!" she replied.

"Well whose fault is that?" Emmett grinned, smug with the memory. He loved that they could still argue about stupid events from their past because it somehow made them more lifelike, more memorable. They were the series of events that had turned Emmett and Daphne into Emmett&Daphne.

Sometimes when Emmett lay awake at night he'd see different parts of their memories intensified, like when he'd lived them he'd been missing the truly important parts. When they'd accidentally set fire to Cameron's tool shed trying to make jet packs, he recalled the way Daphne had stayed over and weathered Cameron's wrath with him when she'd been told to go home. When he'd thought back to it weeks ago, his mind catalogued the light in Daphne's eyes and bright animation of her laugh before the shed caught fire and the strange way his fourteen year old heart had skipped a beat. And three years ago, when Daphne had nervously told Emmett about Liam Lupo's invitation to the movies, he remembered how embarrassed and jittery Daphne had been. How he'd knocked over his bottle of soda three times before setting it on the floor a foot away. When the event crossed his mind a week ago, it was tinged with the barely veiled jealousy and anger he'd felt at the time and was accompanied with the many different times he'd tripped or "accidentally" ran into Liam until the older boy completed his class and left at the end of the year.

Now, having Daphne lazily tracing constellations on his chest he was reminded of the first time he'd told Daphne about Sheila. The memory was a little fuzzy and whether that was because it was years ago or because it hurt, Emmett couldn't tell. He knew he told Daphne almost all of it, the rest came out later, but he can't remember the exact words. The only part that stuck in his mind was the tickling yet distinct feel of Daphne tracing the lines of stars into his palm. How that made it somehow easier to keep talking through the pain in his throat.

Emmett swallowed and tuned back into what Daphne was saying. "You know, pyromania is one of the first signs of a serial murderer?" Daphne added, indignant.

Emmett scoffed, "What does a small, European country have to do with Mr. Fred?" He puffed his chest out confidently, smiling as Daphne glared childishly at him. "Besides you have me now."

"What is this?" She gestured between the two of them. Half of her was afraid to know the answer and the other half wished she didn't have to go the hall to confront her mother. She was fully aware that the longer she took to make it down there, the longer her mother had time to imagine what was holding her up.

Emmett held a hand to his chest, "Me Emmett, you Daphne. We homo sapiens."

Absently, Daphne supplied, "Homo sapiens sapiens, actually."

"Whatever, Girl Wonder." Emmett rolled on top of Daphne and lined kisses along her jaw. He would fix this, he would fix this so Daphne wouldn't have to worry anymore. They wouldn't have to hide away in Daphne's room or at his house when Melody was out. He breathed hot and wet on the bruises he'd made along Daphne's neck the night before and signed his promise with a quick slide of his tongue. "It's whatever you want it to be, Daphne. As long as it's something you want." _As long as_ I'm _something you want,_ he thought.

Daphne sat up slowly, pushing Emmett to his side. She sat for a while, studying the shadows swimming across her room. She shot a glance over her shoulder, observing, "It's always been there and we never labeled it before."

Emmett nodded, lying back into the comfort of the covers he'd slept in enough to claim as his own. He lifted Daphne's palm to his lips. "I've always belonged to you." Surprised at the fluttery sensation in his stomach, he supposed it was because he'd never said it before or maybe because it stung a bit that Daphne had to be told.

Daphne didn't know what to say to that. She'd never tried to claim Emmett and she'd never thought that anyone could. Heart rate a little faster, she took Emmett's hand and pulled him to his feet, grabbing her jeans as she went. "You're coming with me."

As she entered the kitchen, Daphne remarked that her mother didn't look mad. On the contrary, she seemed contemplative more than anything. Setting out pans, eggs and flour, she didn't acknowledge the two teenagers sweating bullets in her kitchen.

Finally, she stopped, leaned back against the kitchen sink and eyed them critically. "Well, I was only expecting my daughter, but this feels like a bonus." That made Emmett nervous and Daphne must've sensed it because her hand grasped his before he could escape. He regretted it almost immediately after because Regina followed the action and her expression intensified. "How long has this been going on?"

 _Five years,_ Daphne thought if she was being entirely honest. The first time she'd ever thought to look at anyone that way, it had been Emmett. It was written in her future the second Emmett had stolen, okay coerced him out of, her first kiss.

Emmett spoke up, "A week—"

"Honestly?" Regina accosted, eyebrow raised. As she started to run dish water, Daphne's frown deepened. An overabundance of snacks signaled a minor upset, constant berating to clean her room meant she was worried about something. Dish water meant her mother was trying to find a way to forbid her from something.

"About a month." Emmett suddenly said He winced as Daphne stepped on his foot, muttering "What, she scares me. And I want to keep my dangly parts." He stared pointedly at the knives on the counter. "and you should want me to. I'm doing this for you really."

Daphne rolled his eyes before speaking. "Just a month, technically, but you know how long we've been..." she trailed off, unsure how to word it. "How long we've been us."

A silver pan slammed on the counter in front of them, startling them all as Daphne's mother deflated and rubbed her face with her hand. Worried, "Mom? Are you okay?"

Her hand fell to her mouth and she looked anything but okay as a rueful smile graced her face. "No. Not really." She turned around, gripping the sink for support before turning back to face the two teenagers. "It's not so much that you were doing… what you _are_ doing. It's not that it's Emmett—that much I figured when you stopped answering his calls in front of me." She studied the curtains above the sink. "And you were always so… hands-on with each other."

She didn't go on and Emmett took the plunge, seeing Daphne as too scared to do it. "Then what is it, Regina?" He pulled out of Daphne's vice grip and followed her around the island, moving the pan to the cabinet it belong to as he went. Empathy shown through Emmett's arrogance as he pulled Regina into a hug and he must've looked pitiful because she cupped his cheek in her hand soft enough to remind him why he'd loved it here in the first place.

Emmett led her to sit on the breakfast table next to the kitchen. "You haven't called me that in a while. Ms. Vasquez this and Ms. Vasquez that all the time." She noted, dropping her hand to her lap where Emmett picked it up. It was a while before anyone spoke. "I think this is a bad idea."

"Why?" It sounded defensive, but Emmett didn't care.

"You've been together too long." She stated, hands moving softly with the sensitive situation. "When this is over, it'll break your heart. It's just too much. You two have had too much history and you've never had to be apart."

"We stayed away from each other for months—" Emmett started.

"And look how that turned out; Daphne wouldn't leave her room, wouldn't do anything but work for weeks," she added, a bit regretful at the way Daphne ducked her head in embarrassment. Emmett lowered his inquisitive eyes, most certainly feeling guilty.

It was pretty ridiculous how they never really spoke about that time spent pretending the other didn't exist. Occasionally, Daphne would mention someone she'd met, and Emmett wouldn't know who they were, or Emmett would talk about something funny that happened and forget that Daphne hadn't been there. It felt like an entire period of Emmett and Daphne's life they were unable to mention because it was lived separately. There were no pictures, no letters, no phone calls from the time Emmett had tried to ignore falling in love with his best friend and Daphne refused to acknowledge how much of her life was painfully ordinary and routine without Emmett.

And it was all about to happen again.

Emmett frowned, trying again, "We spent a summer apart."

"Only because Daphne wanted to go back to summer camp and you didn't." Then she added affectionately, "And you spent almost every day here." Emmett shrugged and bit his lip, actively refusing to look at Daphne.

"Well that just proves we suck at being apart. How's that bad?" Daphne supplied, feeling the heat of Emmett's eyes on her face, evaluating the determination he found here. If she was unsure before, she was sure now. Emmett really wanted this, really wanted her. She bit her lip, remembering the envelope in her desk drawer Emmett hadn't found yet. It was her doing really, every time Emmett got close, Daphne dragged him away with kisses or she used Emmett's appetite to her advantage.

"Things don't always work out the way you think they will, Daphne. For one, look our lives." With that, Regina squeezed Emmett's hand in hers, needed some sign they wouldn't shut her out for telling them how she felt.

"I know that," she insisted, quite petulant. Daphne hadn't thought about her father much at all since she was a child but now that her mother mentioned it, she felt a lurch in her belly. Emmett stood in the middle, lost in thought. Of course, it would end, all things would eventually. Nobody ever really stayed, not with him anyway.

"I don't think you do, sweetheart," she admitted. To Emmett, "I'm happy that you found something to hold on to. I'm even happy to see that it's brought back parts of that sweet girl I missed. But this won't end well, for either of you."

Daphne shook her head and left the kitchen, tears already springing from her eyes. Emmett stayed, grip as strong as ever. "I love your daughter."

She agreed, hugging him tight to her chest where she smelled like sweet desserts from his past. Realizing with a jolt, throughout much of his life, almost more than half of it, Regina had been there in the background. Teaching him to fend for himself, lessons his mother hadn't bothered enough to teach. Always willing to let him stay over on nights Melody or Cameron couldn't get off work to come home. She'd picked him up from school on days when it rained, or Daphne was too scared of the threat of electrocution to walk. "I know you do."

"I can visit, I can call, I can write," he insisted but it felt empty. He could feel his defense slipping through his fingers, weak around all the holes he'd ignored in his logic.

"And when that's not enough?" she asked, patting his shoulder before standing to begin making dinner. Emmett didn't reply; he didn't have an answer. Instead, he retrieved the extra apron from the cabinet and assisted Regina, the menial labor keeping his mind free to figure out how to get Daphne to run away with him.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When Regina decided to throw a graduation party, Daphne was utterly shocked Emmett volunteered to help. Through the end of their senior year, anytime their teachers spoke about college scholarships or the graduation ceremony, Emmett closed off or became more cynical and spiteful than before. Daphne figured he was getting pressure from Melody about his apathy towards his future. That or his plans to travel the world and see "the great sights… nude beaches, exotic food, different cultures… but mostly nude beaches, Daphne", weren't coming along as well as he'd expected.

So, when he woke Daphne early one Saturday morning with a crazed grin on his face and the smell of smoke in the air, she was sure Emmett had burned his house down. "Daphne, Daphne come on! Wake up!" She thought he was saying. He shook Daphne's shoulders and threw the comforter back. Pulling at Daphne's arms, he dragged the younger girl out of bed. "Wake up! You were right, I can't do this by myself."

Sleepily sitting up and getting to her feet, Daphne rubbed at her eyes. "Emmett, what's going on? I thought you slept at your house last night?" She allowed himself to be pulled out of her bedroom, stumbling over shoes and clothes littering her floor. She followed Emmett down the stairs, vaguely paying attention to what he was signing.

"I did, but if I'm going to make this cake I need your help so get your cute little butt down here and help me. Seriously, Daphne, you're being dangerously unhelpful," he said, dropping Daphne's hand as he hurried around the cluttered island.

"You're right, Emmett. How dare I sleep at…" Daphne nodded and eyed the clock over the stove. "Six twenty-seven on a Saturday morning? I must be insane." Emmett didn't respond, too busy shoveling out ingredients from the fridge and pantry. "Why are you making it now anyway? The party is next week."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I have to practice," he insisted, shoving Daphne towards the silverware drawer. "Grab a spoon."

The erratic behavior was taking some getting used to. In the past few weeks, Emmett appeared to have been possessed by a creepy doppelganger that liked going to museum exhibits with Daphne and had no trouble being nice to Travis. The strange creature didn't complain once when Daphne invited Melody to their graduation and just smiled when Travis demanded Daphne's first dance at their prom. And yeah, maybe in the past Daphne had wished Emmett would be more supportive, less of a relentless dick to her friends, less confrontational but now, having seen it in person she wanted to eat her words.

Everything she didn't know she loved about Emmett had faded away somehow. That wasn't to say that she didn't still love him, she did and didn't know how she'd go about stopping; or even if she could. But the person she loved didn't seem to be here anymore. Emmett no longer forced Daphne into dangerous stunts or pranks just for the hell of it. He didn't go out of his way to annoy her or alienate her friends. Daphne almost lost it the day Emmett sat and listened to Travi's college essays and even offered genuine feedback. She wanted to scream at him, ask him what the hell she'd done wrong when she realized that she'd kept the Stanford acceptance letter a secret for two months now and the guilt had nearly evaporated.

She figured Emmett turning into a different person was punishment for the lie and she blamed her mother for drilling the idea of karma into her skull.

So, if Emmett wanted to throw himself into making a cake, throwing a graduation party, Daphne had to suck it up and go along with it. Sure hands tied an apron around her waist and shoved a bowl of cake mix into her arms. "Here. You can get started stirring and I'll start with the frosting."

Emmett eyed her for confirmation but spun around without it. They worked in silence for a moment before Daphne's nervousness caused her to break it. "You remember that time we tried to make brownies at your house?"

A laugh as Emmett nodded his head. "Yeah, I do. That was insane." His head tilted back at the ceiling with the memory. "We got flour everywhere."

Coming closer, Daphne joined in the laugh. "Yeah. And we never actually made the brownies."

"Well it was your idea to eat the batter as we went along." Emmett insisted, setting the mixing spoon down and facing Daphne. His eyes were alight with the first real fire Daphne had seen in a while and her breath caught with the want to keep it there. _This,_ she thought, _this is what I've been missing._ Grinning, Emmett continued. "I got so sick after that."

Remembering, "Yeah, me too. I was such a loser back then. I don't even know why you hung out with me," she admitted, returning the smile until Emmett's started to fall. The same distant expression returned with the addition of one of resolute conviction. He returned to mixing the topping for the cake, clearly upset with something Daphne had said.

They didn't speak as Daphne finished mixing the cake mix. She set the bowl down on the counter and anxiously stood in the middle of the kitchen waiting for Emmett to acknowledge her. Finally, "Emmett, I'm finished."

Refusing to look at her face, Emmett nodded absently. "Yeah? Just set it down on the counter." Daphne sighed in frustration and started back down the hallway. It seemed impossible to predict Emmett's moods lately, she never knew when she was in for this chilly counterpart.

Before she got too far, she swore she saw him sign, "You were the coolest kid I knew. It took me way too long to realize it." And an hour later Emmett crawled into bed beside her, curling his arms around Daphne's slumbering form, Daphne knew she'd heard correct.

If Emmett squeezed her a little too tight to breathe comfortably, Daphne figured she deserved it. "Have you thought about how you're going to say goodbye?" Emmett whispered, and Daphne knew he meant her, _their_ , mom.

"No," she responded honestly. She didn't know how to say her goodbyes because she wasn't sure who would be receiving them. The countdown had begun, and time was speeding towards Daphne before she even had time to process her options, what was left of them. For the second time, she felt that same vice grip painfully across her ribs. She ducked her head, reaching for Emmett's hands and realized they were at her waist.

* * *

Daphne came home one day after a Student Council meeting to find Emmett in her room, buried in a pile of colorful brochures. For a panicked moment, she thought Emmett had gone through her desk drawers and found everything. She contemplated dropping her backpack and making a run for it. She started calculating whether or not she could get to the front door before Emmett and unconsciously toed her converse off.

Emmett finished reading and looked up with a bright smile and Daphne was trying to figure out if that was a good sign or not. Emmett had been moody the past two weeks, cheerful and optimistic one day and upset and furious the next. Daphne was walking on eggshells, preoccupied with Emmett's sudden change in personality and her own dishonesty.

Emmett gestured for Daphne to come forward, almost shaking with excitement. "Daphne, come look at this. I've been trying to decide where we should go first. I considered throwing these in a hat and picking randomly but I know how much you like to have everything together and organized for your "Decision Making Program" so I've been waiting here for you."

He grabbed Daphne's hand and eyed her, grin crooked with self-conscious courtesy and tried to take a deep breath, feeling overwhelmed. Knowing Emmett, including his little quirks both annoying and charming, she knew how used he was to making rash decisions. He once wrote an entire English paper on the benefits of planning to have no plan and, much to Silvia's chagrin, had earned a top grade on it. Daphne had known this, expected to have to help her friend out of several sticky situations in the future. That was who Emmett was, reckless, spontaneous and impulsive, everything Daphne wasn't and could never be.

This, this gesture, this offering to let Daphne have her way, just this once, took Daphne's breath away. Instead of finally confessing about her acceptance, owning up to the guilt that had been causing her childhood asthma to reemerge, she attacked the possibility of Emmett's options. "How are we supposed to afford to go anywhere further than Topeka?"

Emmett squeezed her hand, bright smile returning again. "Daphne, my Mom had been trying to introduce me to the world ever since she found out I didn't want to go to college right away. Plus, my Grandma Joy, Cameron's Dad, left me a ton of money. I've got it covered."

Daphne nodded and tried to smile back but her heart was pounding out of her chest. Graduation was coming sooner, and her lies were coming to fruition.

* * *

The night of their high school graduation wasn't a festive occasion for Emmett or even Daphne. The Vasquez's threw a dinner party in celebration. Adrianna stayed the whole day to help prepare, Tyler was back for a few weeks, and Cameron even switched shifts to attend. Though Emmett denied it, Daphne could see the pride in his and Melody's eyes watching as Emmett trudged across the stage to get his diploma. She relished in the thought in between wondering why Principal Rose had given her such an odd look when she'd received her own.

Seeing their parents commiserating with each other over food was bittersweet. Amazing as the image was, Emmett was stuck on the countdown until Daphne and he left them indefinitely. Daphne was stuck on how she could possibly tell Emmett that she'd gotten into University of Missouri and neglected to tell him. How she'd looked Emmett in the eye for the past two months and lied straight to his face. They'd been hovering around each other all night. It was an unspoken fact to each of them that they were biding the time until they could be alone.

Tyler found Daphne in the kitchen, lips pressed urgently against Emmett's as she sat on top of the counter. Emmett was laughing into the kiss about something while keeping Daphne from jumping down. Palms holding Emmett in place, Daphne thrust her tongue into Emmett's mouth, tasting the chocolate frosting from the cake they'd made earlier.

Swallowing a grin, Tyler said, "Your mother's going kill you for this. You know how she is about keeping the kitchen spotless."

Emmett pulled away, straightening his button-down shirt as Daphne hopped down. Tyler finally saw what was so funny. "Has Regina seen?" He asked Emmett, ignoring the confusion on his friend's face.

Emmett chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know, Daphne hasn't even noticed yet." He gestured at the anxious look on his girlfriend's face.

"Noticed what?" Daphne asked, eyes traveling between the two. She settled on Emmett. "What did you do?"

Tyler gave her a reassuring smile, proud really. "Daphne, I never thought I see the day you had to hide a hickey from Regina." A trail of red marks made its way down from the skin beneath Daphne's chin until they disappeared in the neck of her white ruffled top.

Daphne's face warmed in embarrassment to have her old friend point it out and glared pointedly at Emmett, flustered obviously. "When did it get there?" she asked Emmett who apparently still thought it was amusing. Part of Daphne was painfully confused and happy that Emmett was acting more like the guy she loved, the guy she'd missed these past few weeks.

"They, you mean, and I don't know. Last night, this morning… five minutes ago," Emmett started, laughing and Daphne slapped his ass in reply.

"You're a jerk!" Daphne pushed past him toward Tyler. "Can I borrow your phone?"

And as much fun as it would've been to see Daphne try to hide the darkening lovebites from Regina, he turned on the forward-facing camera on his phone and handed it over. "You told me she already knew."

Daphne nodded absently, examining her neck in the mirror. "Mom does. We almost got caught twi- Emmett! What they—they're not even just on one side." She tilted the phone to the side frown deepening as she went. "This is obsessive."

Tyler bit back a laugh and eyed Emmett satisfied smirk. "I know! Isn't it great? If you connect 'em, they make out Abraham Lincoln. Or was it the Pink Panther? I don't remember, Daphne, it took a while." He turned Daphne by the shoulders, tilting his head to study his work. And she wasn't sure when it changed but Emmett's expression became sweet, affectionate. He kissed Daphne for a moment and melted the stress lines from her face with his fingertips. Pulling away, Emmett muttered, "I was dedicated."

Tyler lowered his gaze to the impressive cake Emmett and Daphne had made for the occasion. He'd always felt like an outsider around Emmett and Daphne but now was the first time he could remember feeling like he was witnessing a part of their relationship he wasn't meant to see. He couldn't make out Daphne's quick-signed response, but it had something to do with pop rocks and soda.

He raised his eyes when Emmett pet Daphne on the head and backed out of the kitchen signing, "They've been there since this morning and I've been waiting for you to notice." Daphne looked as if she was going to go after before deciding against it and climbing back onto the counter.

"I don't know if you're good for each other, but you definitely have something I've never seen before," Tyler stated, crossing his arms and leaning against the opposite counter. Sometimes it still blew his mind how much Daphne had grown up while he was away in the army. It wasn't just that she was taller, curvier, and had a killer smile. She was more solid, somehow. She was more comfortable with the world, less naïve but he found that he didn't miss the innocence.

Emmett was good for her.

Daphne looked up as if she hadn't realized he'd been standing there and he wasn't surprised. "You think my mom's right?"

Tyler shook his head adamantly. "No, I didn't say that. She's not completely wrong thought." He stepped closer and hugger her tight to his chest. He couldn't help but remember when Daphne had been only half his height, only big enough to hug her head to his stomach. "Emmett is…really special. He cares about you and anyone can see that."

Daphne nodded and finally let herself slide over into the weariness she'd been feeling for the past six hours. Emmett's distance and fluctuating mood, her mother's insistent clinginess, her grandmother's incessant need to talk of her future had all started to drag her down. If she wasn't constantly in a state of untruthfulness around Emmett, she was assuring her mother she hadn't made a mistake in staying with Emmett and being selectively vague about her college acceptances whenever her mom or grandmother asked about them. Tyler's arrival had brought up an unpredictable sense of gratefulness because he hadn't belied anything other than pride at her graduation.

"I don't think I can handle this anymore. I can't fix anything, and Emmett wants me to spend a year around the world with him," she confessed, not caring to see if they were still alone. "I can't tell him I'm going away."

Tyler blinked rapidly at the onslaught of confusing information. "What do you mean 'going away'? Where are you going exactly?"

Daphne pulled her closer and whispered, "I got into University of Missouri—"

His eyes grew larger and his excited congratulations was cut off with Daphne's hand. "Shh! You have to be quiet," she insisted, eyes studying the kitchen entrance.

When he'd lowered his voice and the brotherly glare appeared, Daphne pulled her hand away. She watched as he wiped his mouth. A pride returned to his eyes. "Daphne, you got into a great school. That's huge." At Daphne' somber expression, he took her hand in his. "Why aren't we allowed to be happy about this?"

"Because I haven't told anyone. I keep stealing the mail, everyone's mail." She frowned mournfully. "Mom keeps blaming Ms. Garcia. I think it's become a real problem and I don't even feel guilty anymore."

Stifling a laugh, Tyler kept questioning her. "Why can't you tell anyone? I don't know if you've heard, but this is good news, Daphne." He nodded insistently and pet her head like she was five again. Most of those memories were accented with the sparkly, metallic stickers he'd used to decorate Daphne's head when she fell asleep.

"It should be but it's not. All I feel is… guilty. How can I tell them—tell him that I've been lying to him for the past two months?" she admitted, worriedly eying the door again like her tormentors would walk in any minute. "He'll hate me. He'll hate me for leaving, he'll hate me for lying to him. I can't tell him, Ty, I just… I just can't, but the longer I wait, the worse it gets."

"Oh, Daphne." If she was as frank as she wanted to be, Daphne would've told him that the bleeding sympathy on his face only made her feel worse.

"And Emmett's trying so hard, he's being so supportive. He's trying so hard, he's even taking the time to plan things out, all for me. I feel so horrible, but what else can I do? Either I tell him now or Mom and Grandma eventually find out and tell him by accident; either way it hurts."

Seeing the dilemma, Tyler pulled her into his arms. It was all he felt he could give because he couldn't figure a way out of this other than honesty. Tyler pulled back, sympathy apparent in his features. "Mom, Adrianna, Emmett… they all want what's best for you . I'm not going to tell you there's an easy solution because I don't think there is. They're gonna find out eventually and it's gonna suck. Is it better if he finds out from you or by accident?"

Daphne nodded, doubt apparent on her face and the desperate way she pulled him into her arms. They stayed that way, Tyler swaying a little on his feet until Regina entered the kitchen in search of the cake. Regina looked at both of them quizzically and Daphne could imagine that her mom would bring up the question about how Daphne had liked Tyler when she was younger.

"Sweetheart, Emmett is waiting for you," her mom said slowly, retrieving the cake and starting to retreat.

"I know." And as Daphne left the kitchen, Tyler and Regina exchanged knowing looks of shared worry.

* * *

The guests left and Emmett and Daphne helped Regina and Adrianna clean up. As a reward and a result of her good mood, Regina didn't object to Emmett spending the night. Also, Adrianna's question as to why Emmett hadn't been allowed to stay in the first place might've had something to do with it. They left to see Tyler off, leaving Emmett and Daphne alone in the house.

After everything had been cleaned and put away, Emmett turned to Daphne with a forlorn expression on his face and held out a somber hand. Almost unsure of whether or not she should take it, Daphne grasped it tightly in her own and let herself be led down the hall.

Emmett sat her down gingerly on the bed and set to lifting the white blouse off of Daphne and pushing off the straps of her bra to expose Daphne's chest. Once he was finished, he placed a shaky palm over Daphne's heart, dedicating the rhythm to memory. He unhooked Daphne's bra when their eyes met. The sorrow she saw there was enough to dissipate any façade she had left. He continued to undress Daphne until he was down to her panties and watching Emmett with a reproach.

As Emmett stood to undress his own clothes, Daphne finally asked, "Emmett, are you okay?"

He nodded ardently and continued to add to the pile of clothes on the floor next to the bed, their bed. "Yeah, I'm fine." And he wasn't quite sure why his throat was closing in on itself.

Daphne pulled him forward by the waist staring up at him. "You're crying." She reached up to Emmett's face but her wrist was suddenly shackled in Emmet's grip. Eyes widening as fear actually set in, Daphne looked to him for some sign of his thoughts. A test of wills as neither moved for a moment, Emmett's eyes black with his conflicted emotions and Daphne's wide with the fear of them.

Finally, Emmett dropped his arm and lowered his accusing gaze. "Probably, I've been up since five trying to make everything for this party perfect. Everything had to be fucking perfect, everything just right for your special day." He stepped away from Daphne as his breath started to return.

"Why did you?" Daphne asked somberly, watching as Emmett stalked across her room in his boxers. The scar on the left side of his chest stood out in her weary mind. He got that wrestling Daphne in his backyard after Daphne ratted him out for gluing Jeffrey Miller to his desk. At the time Daphne had been pissed at Emmett for expecting her to lie because until Emmett, she'd never had friends that expected her to provide false alibis. Remembering it now, Daphne thinks that might've been around the time Emmett taught her it was okay to lie.

"What?"

"Why did you do all of this? Any of it? Helping Travis with his essays when you obviously haven't liked him since you met, coming with me to community service at the police station when you hate being around police officers? Why do any of it? She tilted her head when Emmett avoided her eyes. "I mean, you _hate_ this stuff –"

"Because I thought it would make it easier for you to say goodbye. You're going to be leaving everything you know, for me and…I just wasn't sure you would think I was worth it," Emmett exclaimed, shocking Daphne into stillness. He stopped pacing and marched over to where Daphne sat, smaller than him on the bed. "I don't want you to feel like you're making a huge mistake staying with me. You know, like your mom thinks you are."

Daphne ducked her head, hands grasping her ribs painfully and gasping for breath. She sunk lower to try to get ahold of herself. She looked up at Emmett. "You're worth it. You are…don't know what I was thinking." She stared at him with solidarity. "It'd be too hard to leave now."

Emmett shook his head, unconvinced and sinking onto his knees to come closer. He lifted Daphne's head gently, seeing her struggle for breath. "Daphne, look at me," he commanded, gaining glazed eye contact at best. "Where's your inhaler?"

Daphne blinked rapidly and gestured towards her desk before the thought set in. She sat up, getting onto unsteady feet. Trying, "Emmett… wait…." But she was too slow before Emmett was already tearing apart her drawers. He got to the bottom one and Daphne was almost glad it was jammed until Emmett continued jerking the handle.

Daphne settled onto the floor, lowering her head onto her knees as the attack started to pass. It was too late. She watched the wood crack and Emmett falling back as hundreds of envelopes, many different colors and sizes rained down on them, surrounding Emmett. Everything was motionless with the exception of the paper fluttering to the floor around them and Daphne lifted her head and instantly wished she hadn't.

As the multicolored papers and pamphlets fell to the carpet, Emmett sat on top of his knees, mouth in a thin line, making it clear he'd read the incriminating letterhead. Surrounding him in an uneven circle, the tons of envelopes lay, high enough to cover Emmett's knees. Daphne met his eyes, heart beating rapidly as Emmett shook his head, disbelief marring his face. Daphne lowered her head, feeling her inhaler knocking the side of her bare leg the same time the broken drawer crashed into the closet door.

Above their heads, the force of the slam caused a familiar relic, covered in cracked green paint and dust of their past to tumble to the bedroom floor and fall to pieces. Neither of them rose to gather.

* * *

Daphne was well into her third year at UMKC when the first one came. She had settled well into her pre-med program and after finding out about a surprising switch at birth, had made a point to Skype or hang out with her new "sister" Bay Kinnish every weekend. They argued and butted heads a lot but as soon as she lost a very important person, who she even considered family, she had managed to add four more to that. She flipped the white envelope over. A green dinosaur sticker closed the envelope and out popped a small picture of a gorgeous skyline with a message of "Greetings from Toronto, Canada" signed at the bottom. Daphne turned it over hesitantly, seeing in familiar messy scrawl, the words "Wish you were here next to me."

* * *

A/N: I won't be writing any more for this story but here are some things I had considered adding but decided not to: I'd like to think that Emmett had a more meaningful relationship with Bay than what was written since this story was focused on Daphne and Emmett. Daphne and Bay eventually find out about their switch at birth while they're in college and begin their relationship with more maturity and fondness. I'm sure Daphne will feel jealous about Bay and Emmett's relationship since Bay is her new "sister." As for if Emmett will come back and join the drama…well, we all know Emmett's magnet-like attraction for trouble :) Hope you enjoyed.


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